Matthews goes big again but Aussies seal series win

Australia have overcome another blistering assault from Hayley Matthews to claim a hard-earned T20I series triumph over West Indies in Brisbane.

Matthews, who became the first woman to score 300 runs in a three-match T20I series, threatened to pull off another incredible heist almost singlehandedly as she raced to 79 from 39 balls in pursuit of 191 at a floodlit Allan Border Field.

But the wicket of the Windies skipper – which came when she attempted to loft a Darcie Brown slower ball over extra cover but was caught inside the ring by Phoebe Litchfield – ultimately decided another entertaining contest, with Australia surging to a 47-run win to wrap up the series 2-1.

After being sent into bat, the home side's innings almost got off to a disastrous start when Alyssa Healy narrowly avoided a second-straight first-ball duck, the right-hander pulling hard and just escaping the clutches of midwicket to get away with an early boundary.

The hosts were two down though inside five overs with Beth Mooney run-out for three and Healy (18) following soon after when she edged behind off Aaliyah Alleyne.

Within minutes though middle-order pair Tahlia McGrath and Ellyse Perry had shifted the momentum, the pair taking 55 runs from overs six to nine as they found the boundary seemingly at will.

Both McGrath and Perry peppered the straight region particularly, with the former reaching her 50 from just 25 balls when a lofted on-drive was spilled by Stafanie Taylor and landed over the rope.

The pair looked completely untroubled as they moved into the back half of the innings, so it came as a surprise when McGrath holed out for an entertaining 65 from 34 balls.

And when Ashleigh Gardner (2) and Perry (40 off 30) fell quickly thereafter, Australia had suddenly lost 3-18 and West Indies were back in the hunt.

Enter game two hero Litchfield and fellow young gun Annabel Sutherland (19 off 13), who combined for a rapid 49-run stand in 4.1 overs. Litchfield again was the star, hammering 36 from just 17 balls to ensure the world champs would again be defending a strong total even as they lost four wickets for 12 runs to end the innings at 9-190.

Matthews paced herself early on and with her opening partner Shabika Gajnabi (16 off 27) failing to score from her first 10 balls, the required rate quickly climbed above 10.

Yet off the back of seven straight player-of-the-match performances, the Windies captain was calm and composed as she took a blowtorch to the Aussie attack.

In game two the right-hander had been allowed to plunder runs through her preferred cover scoring zone, and while the Australians remedied that situation this time around, it did little to curb Matthews' scoring rate.

In fact, her first off-side runs came when she edged through a vacant slips region to bring up a 29-ball half-century, which came amid an eight-ball blitz of 28 runs, of which 20 came from a single Sutherland over.

It was with considerable relief for the hosts then when Matthews finally erred from the 40th ball she faced, ending her series tally on a remarkable 310 runs at 155 (SR 174.16), and the collapse of 5-7 in two overs that followed arrived with an air of inevitability.

Brown (3-20) and Georgia Wareham (1-32) then strangled the life out of the contest in the ensuing overs, earning the hosts a face-saving win ahead of the three-match ODI series which begins with a day match at the same venue on Sunday.

Australia XI: Alyssa Healy (c)(wk), Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry, Phoebe Litchfield, Annabel Sutherland, George Wareham, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown.

West Indies XI: Hayley Matthews (c), Aaliya Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Afy Fletcher, Chinelle Henry, Shabika Gajnabi, Karishma Ramharack, Stafanie Taylor, Zaida James, Rashada Williams (wk)

CommBank T20s v West Indies 2023

First T20: Australia won by eight wickets

Second T20: West Indies won by seven wickets

Third T20: Australia won by 47 runs

CommBank ODIs v West Indies 2023

First ODI: October 8, Allan Border Field, 10.35am AEDT

Second ODI: October 12, Junction Oval, 10.05am AEDT

First ODI: October 14, Junction Oval, 10.05am AEDT

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris (T20Is only), Jess Jonassen, Alana King (ODIs only), Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

West Indies squad: Hayley Matthews (c), Shemaine Campbelle (vc), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Afy Fletcher, Cherry Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Jannillea Glasgow, Chinelle Henry, Zaida James, Djenaba Joseph, Ashmini Munisar, Karishma Ramharack, Stafanie Taylor, Rashada Williams