West Indies Women 269 for 8 (Matthews 140*, Campbelle 45, Sadia 2-38, Tuba 2-48) beat Pakistan Women 156 (Tuba 25, Matthews 3-17, James 2-14, Fletcher 2-19) by 113 runs
Matthews batted from start to finish of West Indies’ innings after she had opted to bat first, hitting 15 fours and a six in a 150-ball effort. She lost her opening partner Rashada Williams early, but stitched together a stand of 101 with Shemaine Campbelle for the second wicket to lay a solid base for her team. There was no partnership of a similar magnitude thereafter, but Chedean Nation, Chinelle Henry and Aaliyah Alleyne combined with Matthews in stands of 32, 40 and 42 for the fourth, fifth and sixth wickets to help West Indies achieve a 50-overs total of 269 for 8.
Matthews’ 140* was her fifth ODI hundred and her highest score in the format. Left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal, who opened the bowling, and legspinner Tuba Hassan were Pakistan’s most successful bowlers with two wickets apiece.
Pakistan began their innings needing to overhaul their previous highest successful ODI chase – of a target of 243 – by a considerable margin. They didn’t make the ideal start, losing Sidra Ameen and Bismah Maroof within the first five overs, but their hopes grew as Muneeba Ali and Nida Dar took the score to 59 for 2 in the 12th over. That’s when Matthews made her next big contribution, getting Dar caught behind to start a slump that Pakistan never recovered from. There were no further partnerships of note besides a brisk 37 between Najiha Alvi and Tuba for the seventh wicket as Pakistan folded for 156 inside the 36th over.
Apart from Mathews’ three-for there were also two wickets each for legspinner Afy Fletcher and left-arm spinner Zaida James.
Karachi will also host the second and third ODIs, on April 23 and 26.