Hayley Matthews ended her dream tour of Pakistan as she started it, with yet another commanding performance as West Indies coasted to an eight-wicket win in Karachi. Smashing 78 in 59 balls, the West Indies captain made light work of Pakistan’s first innings total of 134, with the visitors getting there with ten balls to spare. West Indies won the series 4-1.
West Indies demonstrated Thursday’s indifferent performance was an aberration, and were right on it from the moment they won the toss and put Pakistan in to bat. Pakistan started brightly with a 38-run opening partnership in five overs, and after Qiana Joseph cleaned up Ayesha Zafar following a 16-ball 22, Sidra Ameen and Muneeba Ali went about rebuilding effectively. By the 12th over, the hosts sat pretty at 84 for 1, ostensibly set up for a big finish.
But, led by legspinnerAfy Fletcher, West Indies engineered an almighty Pakistan collapse. Only Rameen Shamim, whose late unbeaten 11-ball 16 got Pakistan past 130, managed double figures after the top three. Pakistan lost seven wickets for 37 runs as Fletcher, Joseph and Matthews all cashed in, strangling the innings until Shamim’s final-over flourish. Sidra top-scored for Pakistan with a 52-ball 48.
But West Indies had the momentum, and never truly ceded it. Matthews started cautiously once more, allowing Rashada Williams to inflict the early jabs. Sadia Iqbal got rid of her in the fifth over, but that brought out ShemaineCampbelle, who, together with Matthews put together a 103-run partnership, terminally ending any Pakistan hopes of another consolation win. Towards the second half of that innings, Matthews seemed to be finding boundaries at will, 11 of them sprinkled throughout her innings as she surpassed 50 and helped her side hurtle towards what suddenly looked like an inadequate target. Campbelle, meanwhile eased along for an unbeaten 33 off 35, happy to play second fiddle at a master in full flow.
Pakistan did manage to get Matthews out one final time in the series, NashraSandhu knocking her stumps back. But by then, West Indies needed just seven to win, and Matthews’ work was done.
Meanwhile, Australia have replaced India as the No. 1 Test team in the ICC men’s rankings after the annual update. India, though, have retained the top spot in the ODI and T20I rankings.
In this cycle, the matches played only after May 2021 are taken into consideration for the ranking, which means India’s 2-1 series win in Australia in December 2020-January 2021 has dropped out. All results between May 2021 and May 2023 are weighted at 50%, while the ones in the following 12 months are weighted at 100%.
As a result, Australia, who also won the World Test Championship last year, now have 124 rating points, four clear of second-placed India (118), and 19 ahead of third-placed England (105). Both India and Australia are next in action in the format only in November, when they face each other in Perth.
In the ODI rankings, India (122) have extended their lead over Australia (116) to six rating points. South Africa are at third spot, and are only four points behind Australia. Pakistan (106) and New Zealand (101) round out the top five.
While India are still No. 1 in T20Is with 264 points, their lead over Australia (257) has reduced from 11 to seven points.The biggest beneficiaries were South Africa, who rose two spots from sixth to fourth, and are only two points behind third-placed England (252).Meanwhile, Pakistan have dropped two places to seventh, and Scotland have overtaken Zimbabwe to be 12th.
