Powered by an unbeaten century by Hayley Matthews, the West Indies Women defeated Pakistan Women by eight wickets at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Monday (July 12), to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five match CG Insurance ODI Series.

Chasing a modest target of 183, Matthews scored 100 not out and featured in partnerships of 56 with Kyshona Knight (18) and 106 with Britney Cooper, who made 45, to lead her side to a comfortable victory with 59 balls to spare.

The Barbadian batter, who also took two wickets in the match, said the century was the result of a lot of hard work.

“I’ve been working really hard over the past couple of months to improve on my batting and on my consistency and it’s really good to see it finally paying off,” she said.

When Pakistan batted, they struggled early, slipping to 56-6 inside 16 overs as only Muneeba Ali, who scored 25, was able to bring the fight to the West Indies bowlers, especially Chinelle Henry, who took two of the first three wickets to fall.

WEST INDIES WOMEN SMELLED BLOOD

However, Umaima Sohail, who top-scored with 62, found a useful partner with Nida Dar to temporarily halt the slide. They stitched together a partnership of 87 before Dar became the first of Matthews’ two victims.

Once Dar was out, the West Indies Women smelled blood and moved in for the skill. Anisa Mohammed (3-25), Henry (3-37) and Matthews (2-30) combined to scythe through the middle and lower order, even though they were held up slightly by Rameen Shamin.

Shamin scored 19 from 21 balls in a valiant effort to put a more respectable total on the board.

The West Indies Women will go for a fourth consecutive victory when they face Pakistan Women again on Thursday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. The match begins at 9:30 am. 8:30 am in Jamaica.