File photo of Hayley Matthews.© AFP
West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews was named the ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year on Wednesday, becoming only the second women's cricketer from the Caribbean to receive the honour. Before Matthews, former skipper Stafanie Taylor was crowned with the coveted award in 2015. Matthews was sensational with her skills from the bat and the ball. She defeated competition from Australia's Ellyse Perry, England's Sophie Ecclestone and Sri Lankan Chamari Athapaththu. “I'm really blessed to have had quite a good year with West Indies wearing these colours, performing really well and helping the team,” Matthews said, according to ICC.
“Growing up, I saw many of my idols receiving these types of awards often, so to be able to come out as a player with this award is special for me,” she added.
The No. 1 ranked ICC Women's T20I all-rounder embarked on a journey that saw her produce a remarkable performance for the ages against Australia in a bilateral T20I series.
During the series, she scored 99*, 132 and 79 as the West Indies skipper proved to be a major hurdle for the Australian side. The 25-year-old's 99* in the first game of the series quickly went under the radar with her breathtaking 132 in a chase of 213 in Sydney.
During the world record chase in the women's T20Is, Matthews tumbled several records, including the highest individual score in a women's T20I chase. Her overall score of 310 runs in the series was the milestone of most by any player in a women's bilateral T20I series.
Matthews also had a good outing in the T20 World Cup. She amassed 130 runs and picked up four wickets.
In total, she added 700 runs to her name in 2023, the most by any player in a year in Women's T20Is. She also claimed 19 wickets at an average of 16.21 per year.
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