 A batting masterclass from skipper Hailey Matthews propelled the West Indies women to a world record chase in the second T20 international against Australia at North Sydney Oval on Monday. Matthews smashed 132 of 64 deliveries to lead the Caribbean women to 213 for three to beat world champions Australia by seven wickets with one ball to spare in the highest scoring women's T20 international in history. Batting first, the Aussies rallied from 2 for 7 to 212 for 6 in their 20 overs. They were led by 70 from Elise Perry and Phoebe Litchfield, the 20-year-old who scored the joint fastest women's T20 international half-century, which came off 18 deliveries. She ended on 52 from 19. Matthews was the best with the ball for the Wendell women, grabbing 3-4, 36 while Chamelea Connell took 2 for 35. In reply, Stefani Taylor scored 59, combining with Matthews for a record partnership of 164 before Chinelle Henry and Chamelea Campbell scored 9 of the final over to take the Wendell's women home with one ball to spare. Let's now hear first from the Aussie captain, Alyssa Hailey. Yeah, unbelievable knock by Hailey, I mean, we dropped her a few times, but I mean, there's not much more we can do to try and restrain her, so fair play to her, but yeah, on we go. I think at the moment, the way that she's striking the ball, we've just got to hang on to the chances when they come, when she slips up, but we'll look at it, we'll reassess and hopefully just take away some of the room she's been able to create. Oh, 100%. I mean, you saw it tonight. We were 2 for 7 and we made 212, so there's some really good things that's happening within our group and we knew that this new era of T20 career, that people are beating everyone and we were prepared to put everything on the line to lose to win games of cricket, potentially losing games of cricket. So look, that's what happened tonight. We got outplayed, but we'll come back bigger and better in Brisbane. Yeah, the Aussie captain, Alyssa Hailey. Now, Hailey Matthews, who won her seventh consecutive player of the match award, attributes her recent success to her new role. I've just probably learned a bit more about myself, about the areas that I want to access and my strengths and it's been working really well for me. So you're backing yourself in. Is there being a change in mindset at all? I think just trying to be as positive as possible. I think obviously the leadership of the team has really made me take a lot more responsibility at the top of the order and he's brought about some runs with it. Obviously, last game was a bit tough for us with the ball, but we battled the ballers to just come back today. Look at what they did and do so well last game. And I think you saw from our start today, how the girls were right on the mark, that's all we can really ask for. I'm so proud of every one of them in there for coming back out here today and getting the job done and yeah, happy to get over the lane. Yeah, Lance and Mariah, the Australians winning the first T20 international on a Saturday night into early Sunday morning, comfortably. And the West Indies rebonding brilliantly in the second T20 to win by seven wickets. A victory set up by Stefani Taylor and Hailey Matthews. Yeah, I love what Hailey Matthews said just now. The leadership of the team has helped her to become more responsible. And she has demonstrated that with her own performance team, because we've seen the first match, 99, not out. I felt that one for her. I really wanted her to get that century, but, you know, she let that one go and she decided to go back for that center in the second match. 132 off, 64 balls. And if that was not enough for Hailey Matthews, she, she, remember, they bowled first, she took three for 36. So what I'm seeing here is a young player that has been given responsibility and has taken that responsibility with both hands. And for me, I'm very, very impressed because we've seen people elevated to that captaincy role and their performances have faltered. If it's anything, the captaincy role appeared as a burden to them. Hailey Matthews speaking about being very, very positive. And I think that is exactly what we're seeing in her game. Taking that leadership role, recognizing that, you know, she's in a team where she has to step up or nothing. And she's been doing that with both bat and ball. Yeah. And you know, at the top of the show, Ricardo referenced their outstanding performance, the Stefano Taylor, Hailey Matthews combination for the 2016 World Cup title success. And we saw that reenactment today. It was really a pleasure to see them both at the innings 174 for the second wicket, a West Indies record for any wicket and outstanding there. You just said, Mariah, that Hailey is a young player, still young, but she's experienced because she debuted at 16, which means that she means she has nine years of international cricket under her belt at the moment. And she's showing a lot of maturity. And it was really a pleasure to watch them bat this morning. And just some glimpses of Stefano Taylor, you know, rolling back the years and playing some good shots as well. But it just reminds us that for this transitioning West Indies team to succeed, the key players who are world-class players have to perform. And that's what we saw today. Yeah, that's very much what we saw today. And I want to look at Hailey Matthews quickly, Lance and Mariah, because when I started on this show as a presenter, one of the points I made was that Hailey Matthews was not producing at the level that she is capable of. Now, Hailey Matthews in T20 International Cricket is averaging 23.7 with the bat. Now, this is a player who is capable of averaging close to 50, if not beyond the 50. But what she has produced in 2023 is significantly closer to her talent level. She's averaging 53.7 this year, including three-half centuries. She now has a center to go with that. And she's been nuttled on three occasions for this West Indies team. So that is a lot closer. And if you look at, for example, the last seven matches where she's averaging into the 90s significantly better than just this year. So she's even getting better at the back end of this year. And the two performances against the very best team in the world, Australia, I think is testament to the improvement that she is. Well, the improvements that she is making and has made over the course of this year. She speaks to the captaincy and the fact that the added responsibility that she's taken on has helped her to perform better, and that is fantastic to see. And one quick point, a lot of credit must go to Stephanie Taylor as well for this picture, because there was a point of the chase where it appeared to me at least that Haley Matthews was getting a little bit tired. Stephanie Taylor had scored 20 of her first 22 deliveries. And then 39 of the last 19. When she was needed to step up the pace today, she was able to do it. And Stephanie Taylor has not always been able to do that and definitely not in recent memory, especially when you consider that this is her first T20 international half century since 2019. But she has struggled with injuries and that has really hampered her. Yes, without a doubt. So the injuries, you put that into the equation as well as the fact that she had well, she had a long period out because of the injuries. And then, of course, when she came back into the side, she would have struggled to regain her best self. But it was great to see today her finding her groove and playing the types of shots that in the past, I think, pre-2019, we would see a lot of from Stephanie Taylor. And I think it can only mean well for West Indies women's cricket and Lance, you're very much right. These two are so critical to any positive result for the West Indies women, because the truth is, while I watch that match and while I watch the chase for a long time, especially early, I got the impression, yeah, this is a fantastic Haley Matthews innings. But I feel as if it's going to come to nothing, because if she gets out, no, or if Stephanie gets out, no, that's it. But thankfully, they were able to continue. Although quickly, if the West Indies had found themselves in Australia's position and lost that match, the main thing that we would be talking about today is the chances that they put down because the Australians dropped Haley Matthews three times, 30, 79 and 87. Had they taken any of those catches, it would have been a different match. They also dropped Stephanie Taylor when she was on 20. And that opportunity had been taken. This was the first one when she was on 30. You don't often see the Aussies put down chances like that. That was a chance that should have been taken. She was only on 30. And I think the Australians will be extremely disappointed that they did not take their opportunities. That was Stephanie Taylor, her opportunity when she was on 20. Let's invite Brittany Cooper, a West Indies player with 76 T20 internationals behind her belt to the conversation. Brittany, it's a pleasure to have you on the Sports Mag Zone. Talk to us about how you felt about the performance from the West Indies women this morning. Hi, I started having me on the Sports Mag Zone. It was really, really good to see the outcome of the game. As you said, the first game they performed well, but they did not come up with the game. But to see that they chased such a big score in Australia against Australia and being a West Indies player is a really good feeling. Yeah, fantastic feeling. And Haley Matthews, you would know a little bit about her. Talk to us about the type of individual Haley Matthews is and how much you rate her as a cricketer. Well, we know that since Haley Matthews got captaincy, her game has changed, her game has evolved because there's added responsibility now. We know that when Haley Matthews now came into the game, she was pretty sure of free time or just go there and enjoy and play the cricket. But now the responsibility of being a captain is to see how much that it has improved her game so, so much. And she's just loving the chance that she's getting to lead West Indies woman right now. And she's doing a great job at it, Brittany. Lancet Ricardo at the top of the show, when we were discussing among ourselves, they spoke about the fact that in order for West Indies woman to do well with the bat, we expect players like Haley Matthews and Stefani Taylor and a few others to step up and, of course, get us to that total. Do you agree with them one and two? Are you concerned now that Shabika Gajinabi, she's played two T20 matches in that opening position, come up with scores of zero and one? Well, as we can all see, we know the team is going through a transition period where our younger players are coming into the senior team. So I think as fans, we need to allow that transition to happen. And we expect that when a player gets promoted like the likes of Gajinabi, that they are to perform as soon as possible. But Gajinabi is a very, very talented player and she is now the opening batter for West Indies woman. We know that West Indies women have been searching for that seeded opening with partner with Haley because we have West Chata, me at point in time since the Angelatin left us. So I think, you know, we just need to give Shabika Gajinabi a little more time and, you know, allow her to grow into that opening role. Yeah, looking forward to see her because I also know the quality that she possesses, what you do know when you're on the highest level, you're judged very, very tough. So we're looking forward to see her put up some scores on her bat. What about Stefani Taylor? We've missed this Stefani Taylor for some time. I felt as if I was out there batting when Steph was getting those runs. You know, as you mentioned earlier, you know, she had an injury. We saw that in the World Cup that she did a get to perform, you know, being a batter, opening batter with back injuries couldn't be very difficult. And I'm so happy to see her get back into the Stefani Taylor that we know the class. I mean, you also see that, you know, she bring power in to her game. So it's good to see that, you know, there's a little more comfort in the middle order. I've always said that, you know, one thing is that Stefani should open any batting or she should be coming through. So I'm really, really happy to see, you know, she's getting back into that that Stefani Taylor that we know. Yeah, Brittany, quickly, Ricardo, question you earlier about your rating of Hailey and her development. But I want you to expand a little bit on it, because you had played with her as a teammate, but then you returned to International Cricket in January with the tri series with South Africa and India and played under her as a captain. So can you speak briefly on her maturity and your experience with her, with her as captain, as opposed to when she was just a regular player? I believe that those things that Hailey Mathews have with those fans, right? The WBB early hundred, the woman of primarily the fact that she's getting to play cricket at such a high level is showing that how much her cricket has improved. We've seen in the hundred earlier, the coming out of that offside shots that she has to see how clearly she's been hitting the ball to cover extra cover. So he's really, really building up confidence whenever she played in those franchises across the world. And one thing I love about her is that whenever she returned, she always shared her experience and it shows that so much is learning for the Aussies, India and the England. Those are the top teams in women's cricket that she's showing the class that Hailey Mathews can. Yeah. And you know what? I heard the commentators mentioning earlier on, of course, they felt threatened by the fact that she was taking a game from the Australian, the game away from the Aussies this morning. But the Melbourne Renegades franchise, who have resided her for the Big Bash coming up, are licking their chops at the moment, Britain, because they're seeing a player that's in form and ready for Big Bash cricket for the Melbourne Renegades. Yes, number one all around the world. She's making a run. She's taking a wicket. She's also excellent, a feeler, and she is the leader on the team. So who would want Hailey Mathews on their team? Yeah, very much the case. One quick one, Brittany, before you go. And the commentators lamented this throughout the course of the chase. Hailey Mathews, brilliant through the offside. If you look at her performance today, 24s and 5-6s, 19 of those 25 boundaries came through or over the offside. Yet the Aussies did not plug the offside field by having a sweeper on the point or cover boundary. Were you surprised that they took so long? I think it wasn't it wasn't until the penultimate over that they made the decision to have a sweeper on the offside. Were you surprised that they took so long to pick up what was happening? I think it's a city session by the Australian. We know they just go there and be free, actually. And they back the serve that they could have pinned down Hailey from scoring on the offside. But when I see it, just they left her and all the rocks comfortable. I know that would have been cake for Hailey Mathews because she had that back foot punch over her cover, cover so nicely. So I was happy that, you know, they they they felt that, you know, they could have pinned Hailey Mathews down from scoring on that offside. Yes, Stubborn Aussies. Thank you very much, Brittany Cooper. It's a pleasure having you on the Sportsman zone. And we looking, we look forward to speaking with you a lot more for sure. Thanks for joining us. Yeah, thank you. All right, Brittany Cooper here with Stinde's Women's Player. Now, the series designer will be live on your home of champions. Can Hailey Mathews lead her troops to a serious win over the Aussies down under? Catch the action live 405 a.m. in the Eastern Caribbean. That's 305 in Jamaica on Thursday.