The West Indies captain believes she’s in strong
enough condition to match Australia’s bowlers as a historic series victory
awaits. Hayley Matthews anticipates that Australia’s bowlers will alter their
plans and fields.
In the third T20I on Thursday in Brisbane, the focus
will be on how the home team manages Matthews, the in-form opener who on Monday
night batted 132 off 64 balls in a record run chase to tie the series.
Alyssa Healy, the captain of Australia, persisted in
keeping fielders inside the offside ring on Monday, but her bowlers were unable
to maintain the straighter line necessary on the small North Sydney Oval.
Between backward point and cover, Matthews complied, laying 11 fours and three
sixes.
“A job of a captain is hard,” Matthews said when
asked what she expects on Thursday night at Allan Border Field. “I’m
pretty sure Alyssa would have had conversations with her bowlers, pretty sure
from being captain myself the plan was to bowl straighter.
“But I know how tough it can be as a captain when
bowlers don’t hit where they need to. I’m pretty sure they’re going to go back
and look pretty hard at the footage and at what happened and definitely have
some different game plans.”
“I’ve been striking them really well no matter
what part of the ground I’ve been trying to access,” Matthew said.
“Have it be that a different area of the field opens up, I [am confident]
I can access right around, 360 [degrees].”
Australia have not lost a T20I series at home since
facing England in 2017-18. The sides will also contest a three-match 50-over
series, beginning in Brisbane on Sunday.