West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews scripted history for her side as the hosts breezed past Bangladesh women in the ODI series opener in Basseterre on Sunday, January 19. Matthews slammed her eighth ODI century, the most for a batter for the West Indies women in the format as she went past former skipper Stafanie Taylor's seven centuries. Matthews' ton meant West Indies chased down the target of 199 runs without much discomfort and had 110 balls to spare and nine wickets in the bag.
Matthews equalled the likes of Sophie Devine, Karen Rolton and Laura Wolvaardt on the list of batters with eight centuries while going past Taylor, Sarah Taylor of England, New Zealand's Amy Sattherthwaite and former India skipper Mithali Raj, each of whom have seven tons to their name in the format.
Most centuries for West Indies in women's ODIs
8 - Hayley Matthews, in 85 innings
7 - Stafanie Taylor, in 154 innings
3 - Deandra Dottin, in 138 innings
Matthews now has 2,644 runs to her name in ODIs and went past Australia's Rachael Haynes and Beth Mooney, two Australian superstars on the overall runs list in the format during her herculean knock.
Deandra Dottin was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets while Aaliyah Alleyne and Matthews shared two wickets apiece. Morshida Khatun, Sharmin Akhtar and Sobhana Mostary got starts but none were able to convert as Bangladesh could only muster 198/9.
Matthews and Qiana Joseph shared a magnificent 163-run opening stand, the third biggest partnership for West Indies women for any wicket as it seemed like the duo would take their side home unscathed but the latter fell for 70. However, Matthews completed an unbeaten ton and ended up taking her side home. Bangladesh will aim to come back strongly in the second game on Tuesday to stay alive in the series.