Matthews comes good again to give West Indies T20I series

If West Indies need to do well in a game these days, Hayley Matthews must have a big say in it. That's almost a given. And the latest T20I series, which West Indies have now won 2-1 over South Africa, is a classic example. She failed in the first game, South Africa won. She came good in the second and third, West Indies won. In the series decider on Monday, West Indies had to chase 148 for victory, and it was Matthews' 65, with good support in the form of Shemaine Campbelle's 42, that took them over the line with nine balls in hand.

Wickets fell early in the chase. Qiana Joseph and Realeanna Grimmond were gone by the end of the powerplay for a combined score of 11 from 13 balls. The good thing for West Indies was that Matthews had faced most of the balls in that period, which ended with the scoreboard reading 36 for 2, Matthews on a-run-a-ball 20.

That was the platform, and she took flight against Ayabonga Khaka in the eighth, with two fours and a six, and suddenly she was 38 off 27. The half-century came up off 39 balls, and by the time she was dismissed, in the 16th, by Sune Luus, Matthews had scored 65 in 50, and West Indies needed 34 from 28 balls. It still needed work, which Campbelle (42 in 38) and Chinelle Henry (20* in 11) did, and the series was West Indies'.

South Africa might have expected a different outcome after putting up 147 for 6, which they got thanks mainly to Miane Smit, the 20-year-old playing only her third T20I.

If anything, South Africa had a start superior to what West Indies would have later in the game. Their powerplay was 40 for 1, after a 29-run opening stand between Luus and Tazmin Brits, the star of South Africa's win in the first T20I. And by the time Laura Wolvaardt became the third batter out, in the 12th over, South Africa had 75 on the board. Not for the first time in the series, the bowlers doing the damage were spinners Afy Fletcher and Karishma Ramharack.

Not spectacular, and there was a chance South Africa would fall well short. Enter Smit, and she made sure South Africa didn't collapse, dominating partnerships with the rest of the batters, all of whom registered single-digit scores, with the one with Chloe Tryon - of 44 in 26 balls, of which Smit scored 32 in 17 - standing out.

In the end, though, her efforts were not enough, and West Indies exacted some sort of revenge after conceding the preceding ODI series 2-1.