KARACHI: Hayley Matthews’ marathon 141-run knock, coupled with a combined bowling effort led West Indies women to defeat Pakistan by 88 runs in the third ODI to clean sweep the three-match series here on Tuesday.
Set to chase 279, Pakistan’s batting unit unfolded on 190 despite gutsy knocks from Muneeba Ali and Aliya Riaz.
The home side had a dismal start to the pursuit as they lost both their openers, Sidra Ameen (9) and Sadaf Shams (10), inside the batting powerplay with just 22 runs on the board.
Following the slump, Bismah Maroof partnered briefly with Muneeba and the pair knitted an anchoring 45-run partnership which ended with the former’s dismissal in the 19th over.
Bismah scored a cautious 19 off 37 deliveries with the help of two boundaries.
Pakistan women then lost two more wickets in quick succession including their mainstay Muneeba and consequently slipped to 95/5 in 27.2 overs.
With half of the batters back in the dugout, Aliya Riaz and Fatima Sana offered brief retaliation with a 41-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Stafanie Taylor provided a much-needed breakthrough to the touring side as she dismissed Fatima in the 38th over to open the floodgates.
Fatima remained a notable run-getter for Pakistan with a 44-ball 23.
Meanwhile, Aliya Riaz carried her bat till the 44th over before eventually falling victim to Stafanie Taylor.
She scored a fighting 36 off 41 deliveries, laced with three boundaries and a six.
Following her dismissal, West Indies’ dominant bowling attack soon swept Pakistan’s batting tail and bundled out the hosts in the 48th over.
Hayley Matthews, Stafanie Taylor and Aaliyah Alleyne bagged two wickets each for West Indies, while Shamilia Connell, Chinelle Henry, Zaida James and Karishma Ramharack made one scalp each.
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Opting to bat first, the touring side amassed 278/6 in the allotted 50 overs, courtesy of Matthews’ century and notable contributions from Shemaine Campbelle and Stafanie Taylor.
West Indies got off to a flying start to their innings with Matthews dominating Pakistan bowlers right from the word go.
The touring side were 36/0 in the first six overs before Nashra Sandhu removed Rashada Williams (9) in the next over to cause a stir.
Campbelle then joined Matthews in the middle and anchored the innings with a steady partnership.
Their second-wicket partnership yielded 93 runs before Fatima Sana dismissed Campbelle at the halfway mark.
Campbelle scored 38 off 58 deliveries with the help of two boundaries.
Coming out to bat at No.4, in-form Stafanie Taylor made sure that West Indies did not lose momentum and supported Matthews brilliantly.
Taylor and Matthews added 111 runs for the third wicket before the former fell victim to Sandhu in the 46th over.
She narrowly missed her half-century, scoring 47 from 62 deliveries and hitting four boundaries.
Sandhu then removed Chinelle Henry for a golden duck on the next delivery to pull things back for Pakistan.
Fatima Sana drew a much-needed success in the next over for the home side when she claimed the prized scalp of Hayley Matthews.
The West Indies captain struck 19 boundaries on her way to a 149-ball 141 and top-scored for her side.
Later, Aaliyah Alleyne added valuable runs at the backend for West Indies with a crucial 20-run cameo. She conceded 12 balls and smashed three boundaries.
It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan and West Indies women will now lock horns in the five-match T20I series, scheduled to run from April 26 to May 3.