Matthews is the undisputed No. 1 T20I all-rounder in the world

WEST INDIES Women’s captain Hayley Matthews fortified her hold on being the No. 1 allrounder in Women’s Twenty20 Internationals.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s global organising body, announced that Matthews, the ICC Women’s T20I Player of the Year for 2023, continued to dominate the T20I player rankings following the weekly update of performances.

The 26-year-old Barbadian allrounder was named Player of the Series after her side won their five-match series against hosts Pakistan, 4-1, for performances that have propelled her into the top five in all three T20I ranking categories.

Matthews moved up one place to third on the updated T20I batting rankings, gained one spot to be fifth on the latest bowler rankings, and maintained her healthy lead at the top of the all-rounder category following a superb series against Pakistan that netted 205 runs and seven wickets.

She was dismissed for a rare duck in the opening match of the series against the Pakistanis, but she bowled an economic spell of one for 14 in her allotted four overs.

Matthews made a brisk 58 and was the pick of the bowlers with three for 25 in the second match, and she followed up with 68 and two wickets in the third T20I.

She scored one and was wicketless in the fourth T20I, which was the only match her side lost by eight wickets in a low-scoring affair, but she ended the series strongly with an up-tempo 78 and one wicket in the final match.

The ICC announced on Monday that Matthews was also being considered for its Player-ofthe-Month award for April after scoring 451 runs and taking 12 wickets across the two white-ball formats of T20Is and One-day Internationals.

The global organisation also disclosed that West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman Shemaine Campbelle, Matthews’ deputy, had moved up 16 spots to 70th in the batting rankings, and long-serving leg-spinner Afy Fletcher has risen 16 places to 25th in the bowling rankings.

West Indies Women are currently ranked sixth in the team rankings.

CWI PHOTO West Indies captain and opener Hayley Matthews raises her arms in celebration of scoring her second century of an ODI series against Pakistan at the National Bank Stadium in Pakistan on April 23.