Targets of 270 in a women’s one-day international are supposed to start arguments about pitch, pressure and pedigree. On Friday at Bready, West Indies settled every one of them inside 39 overs — and Hayley Matthews barely broke stride doing it.
Matthews struck an unbeaten 159 and shared a 258-run opening stand with Realeanna Grimmond as West Indies swept Ireland aside by nine wickets in the first ODI, completing what ESPNcricinfo confirms is the highest successful run chase in their women’s ODI history. Ireland had posted a competitive 269 all out, anchored by Amy Hunter’s 96, yet West Indies hunted the runs down in just 38.4 overs, winning with 68 balls to spare. For West Indies supporters, an ODI side that has too often promised more than it delivered suddenly has its statement result.
Yet, looking deeply at the scorecard, this was more than a very good day out. It was a set of West Indies records rewritten in a single afternoon.
How Did Hayley Matthews Break Three Records In One Day?
Start with the partnership. According to ESPNcricinfo, the 258 Matthews put on with Grimmond is now West Indies’ highest for any wicket in women’s ODIs, sailing past the 204 shared by Stafanie Taylor and Juliana Nero. The chase of 270 itself is the biggest West Indies’ women have ever completed in the format.
Then there is the manner of it. Matthews scored 108 of her unbeaten 159 in boundaries — which ESPNcricinfo notes is the most boundary runs in a West Indies women’s ODI innings, beating Deandra Dottin’s 96. She had already taken 3-52 with the ball to help dismiss Ireland inside their 50 overs, and the Player of the Match award was a formality.
What Does Realeanna Grimmond’s 91 Change?
Perhaps the most encouraging detail of all is who stood at the other end. Grimmond was only added to this squad as a replacement for the injured Chinelle Henry, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, and her 91 was just a second fifty in her sixth ODI. West Indies have spent years searching for a reliable partner to take the strain off Matthews at the top; a record stand suggests they may finally have found one, with the experienced Stafanie Taylor not even required until the closing moments of the chase.
For a side that arrived on this tour with questions about batting depth, the shape of the innings — no panic, no wobble, one wicket lost — was as significant as its size.
Where Does This Leave Amy Hunter’s Ireland?
Ireland will be entitled to feel the scoreline flatters no one. Hunter’s 96 was the innings of a batter in serious form, and the platform it built had the hosts on top for long stretches, before Afy Fletcher’s 4-49 dragged West Indies back into the contest. Ireland named a settled, ambitious group for this series — as covered in our look at Ireland’s ODI squad and Gaby Lewis’s role in it — and for 49 overs they executed well. The lesson of Bready is harsher: against a Matthews in this mood, 269 is not a total, it is an invitation.
The response will need to come quickly, because West Indies now have both momentum and a settled opening blueprint, while Matthews’ all-round form is fast becoming the story of West Indies’ summer — the same player whose underdog defiance framed West Indies’ T20 World Cup semi-final against Australia.
The message from Bready is clear: on a day when Smriti Mandhana was dominating the first women’s Test at Lord’s, the loudest statement in the women’s game came from the village ground at Bready — and it was made in West Indies maroon.
