Hayley Matthews is under no illusions about the size of Tuesday’s task at The Oval. Australia, unbeaten all tournament and holders of just about every women’s title going, stand between West Indies and a second T20 World Cup final. The numbers do not flatter the Caribbean side: two wins in nineteen outings against Australia, none since the 2016 final in Kolkata.
“When we step onto that field, everyone’s expecting us not to win,” Matthews said on Monday, matter-of-fact rather than bitter. A brief smile followed and the captain leaned forward as if to underline her next point. “There is a sense of loving to prove people wrong, while knowing that we have to prove ourselves over and over.”
Those memories of 2016 linger, naturally. Matthews was still a teenager when her 45-ball 66 set up a famous chase of 149. Ten years on she laughs about “how young and fearless” that team were, yet knows the present group cannot dine out on old stories. “The game was a lot different at that time,” she admitted.
Recent form hardly shouts champions-in-waiting. “Realistically if you look at our T20 performances probably this year, we had some disappointing results in the Caribbean,” the skipper conceded. A home defeat to Sri Lanka stung, a 3-0 reverse by Australia hurt more, and two losses to Ireland – one in last week’s rain-hit tri-series match in Dublin, another in the World Cup group stage – pushed West Indies to the brink of elimination. They reached the semi-finals only after New Zealand fell short against England.
“As a group, we were disappointed,” Matthews said, summing up the mood during that nervy wait in the team hotel. “We didn’t want to have to depend on results to get to the semi-finals and for a few hours before the result between England and New Zealand we all felt a kind of way that we didn’t want to feel.”
Coach Courtney Walsh – drafted in again for this campaign – tried to keep minds calm. “Courtney told the girls, ‘control the controllables,’” assistant coach Robert Samuels explained. “Not easy when the telly’s on and you’re counting runs, but experience teaches you that dwelling on what you can’t change is wasted energy.”
The eventual reprieve has, if anything, sharpened West Indies’ focus. “We were hurt, we let ourselves down a bit but now that we’re through, maybe it’s a blessing in disguise,” Matthews reflected. “We got to experience what that felt like then and we can use that once again to drive us. Like when we got knocked out from the [ODI World Cup] qualifiers in 2025 and we let that pain motivate us in our training over the next few months. We’re a very passionate group, we care a lot and when we let ourselves down like that, it certainly doesn’t feel good. We want to stop that from happening as much as possible.”
How, then, do they halt a side as ruthless as Australia? Bowling coach Anisa Mohammed points to the powerplay. “If you allow Healy and Mooney a free start you spend the rest of the innings chasing the game. We need early dots, maybe a wicket, then squeeze with spin.” Mohammed, West Indies’ leading T20 wicket-taker, believes Matthews’ off-spin alongside Karishma Ramharack’s leg-breaks offers “variation Australia don’t see every day”.
The batting template is simpler: partnerships, not just cameos. Stafanie Taylor, whose experience spans five World Cups, feels the top order must “play smart cricket”, her phrase for rotating strike and waiting for loose deliveries. “On English pitches you get value for shots. If we’re 70 for one at halfway, we’ll back ourselves,” Taylor said.
Former Australia captain Alex Blackwell, now an analyst for the ICC, respects West Indies’ threat. “They’re unpredictable,” she told BBC radio. “If Matthews or Taylor goes big, or Shabika Gajnabi has one of those fearless knocks, they can post 160. And remember, they’ve beaten Australia on the biggest stage before.”
Even so, bookmakers have Australia as overwhelming favourites, prompting questions about whether the fixture is a mismatch. Matthews bristles at that notion. “People talk about pressure, but honestly it feels like there’s none on us. All the expectation is on them,” she argued. “We can play with freedom.”
Weather could play its part. A light shower is forecast for late afternoon; a reserve day is available, though both teams hope Duckworth-Lewis remains unused. Ground staff reported a “good covering of live grass” on Monday, suggesting pace early and turn later – conditions that might suit West Indies’ slower options if they bowl second.
Whatever happens, Matthews wants her side to “walk off with no regrets”. That sentiment, she says, is non-negotiable. The rest – the weight of history, the outside noise – can wait until the final ball is bowled.
