Barbados detour proves catalyst for Matthews' best season

A flying visit home to Barbados after the West Indies' T20 World Cup semi-final heartbreak set Hayley Matthews up for her greatest Weber WBBL season to date, which concluded in lifting the trophy at the MCG.

The Windies star produced an all-round game for the record books as the Renegades claimed their first title on Sunday, hitting 69 – the highest score in a WBBL Final – then following up with two wickets, including the first-ball scalp of Laura Harris to help her side over the line by seven runs.

It was the icing on a campaign that saw Matthews named in the WBBL|10 Team of the Tournament alongside her skipper Sophie Molineux, having scored 324 runs at a strike rate of 130.6 and claimed 14 wickets.

Matthews, who continued her three-year association with the club when she signed ahead of the draft, missed the Renegades' opening game of the season with the blessing of coach Simon Helmot.

The Windies had been knocked out of the World Cup by eventual champions New Zealand on October 18, just nine days before the WBBL season started.

Matthews, shattered by that defeat, reflected on the previous season, where she joined the Renegades immediately after a white-ball series against Australia.

Despite being in career-best form against the Aussies, fatigue had gotten the better of the 26-year-old, who struggled to maintain those levels during a tough WBBL|09 for the Renegades.

"She, like me, was terribly disappointed after last year," Helmot said of Matthews on Sunday.

"I remember when she rang me, I was in New South Wales during the Spring Challenge, and she rang me to say she's not going to be here for the first game.

"I was pretty disappointed at the time, thinking, 'Oh my goodness, our overseas pro's not going to be here at the start.

"But I remembered how fatigued she was after the international calendar last season, coming straight into the Big Bash.

"So, we let Hayley have that game off, and she's repaid us in a lot of ways ... the most important thing you can do is take responsibility, as she did in the last round game, and most importantly, the final. She's a superstar."

Instead of flying directly from Dubai to Melbourne, Matthews instead returned home to Barbados.

It was a brief five-day return, but it proved to be the tonic the allrounder needed.

"Last year when I played with the Renegades off the back of our T20 series against Australia, I was just really tired when I got to (the WBBL)," Matthews said.

"Cricket is such a mentally straining game, and I feel like you really do need to refresh.

"You can see that it makes a massive difference, just being able to see family and friends, we don't get to see them very often when we're playing all over the world.

"I'm just super happy he was able to let me do that and that I'm able to repay the faith."

Matthews has a knack for producing big performances in finals.

She hit 66 against Australia when the West Indies won the 2016 T20 World Cup and struck 82 in last year's Women's Caribbean Premier League final.

Reflecting on her performance at the MCG, Matthews said she had harnessed her nerves to her advantage.

"I feel like I am someone who gets really nervous … (I had) shaking hands and some butterflies," she said.

"But I feel as though they almost helped me to focus a bit more and clearly it seems to be working.

"(The whole team) was able to stay really calm in the pressured situations.

"This game was very up and down ... at the start of our innings, we were in a bit of trouble, and then we found a way to pick it back up.

"And then Jess Jonassen was bossing it around quite a bit, but we were just able to hold our nerve and stay really calm in those precious situations.

"I think that's what us over the line in the end."

WBBL|10 Finals

The Knockout: Sydney Thunder beat Hobart Hurricanes by six wickets

The Challenger: Brisbane Heat beat Sydney Thunder by nine wickets

The Final: Melbourne Renegades Women win by seven runs (DLS method)

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