Photo Credit: ICC
Hayley Matthews revealed the West Indies needed all their rallying spirit to defeat Bangladesh by just four runs.
Matthews could not continue her fine form with the bat as the West Indies top order collapsed to 70 for seven, the opener contributing 18 runs, but she turned it on with the ball taking career-best figures of four for 15.
Bangladesh fell agonisingly short in their chase of 141 as the West Indies came through another dramatic game in the final over to earn their third win in four matches.
Matthews said: “I think going out there you know that it’s not just going to be a walk in the park, you have got to fight every single time, but that’s the spirit that we’ve shown every time we’ve gone out to play this entire tournament.
“Every one of our games has been close and we just try not to think about the result at the end of the day, just take it one ball at a time, one over at a time.
“It’s just really good that we’re able to get over the line again, it just shows the fight that we have within the team and the courage and the experience within the team as well.”
Shemaine Campbelle produced a crucial knock of 53 not out from 107 balls to ensure the Maroon Warriors made it through their 50 overs with something to bowl at.
The wicketkeeper-batter’s second half-century of the tournament was vital as she arrived to the crease with Matthews, Deandra Dottin and captain Stafanie Taylor all out for low scores.
“I think at that point, we really needed our batters to just stand up and I think she did that really well,” Matthews said.
“She’s the type of player that can definitely catch up in the end and get the runs towards the end of her innings.
“I think she realised what was most important and that was her spending some time at the crease and she did exactly that.
“Of course, some people will say the strike rate was a bit low, but at the same time, we were in a bit of a troubled position. She just did what we needed to do and the other players could have helped her out there.”
Matthews also gave a positive update on the health of fast bowler Shamilia Connell who collapsed on the pitch towards the end of the Bangladesh innings before receiving treatment and being helped to an ambulance cart.
She said: “We are not really exactly sure why she went down. But at the same time, we know she’s a strong girl and we’re expecting her to obviously make a recovery. We’re just keeping our fingers crossed for the best.”
Bangladesh were unable to make it back-to-back wins after failing to get the edge over the West Indies in the first ODI clash between the sides.
The Tigresses restricted the West Indies in the middle overs, bowling nine maidens in total, but no Bangladesh batter could muster more than 25 in the chase, something captain Nigar Sultana admitted was an issue.
“In planning, we have seen the last matches here, so we’ve seen that the spinners are dominating here so we were just planning to do the same thing,” she explained.
“The bowlers did really well today because to keep the West Indies batters to that total is incredible and I think if we could have built up the partnerships with the batting, it could have been different.
“I want to say that Nahida [Akter] bowled really well the last two times, so I think the lack of building partnerships cost us very much today.
“It was difficult to bat to the end, but we needed at least one top-order batter to be there until the end.”
