HARARE: Matthews 118 Campbelle 96 West Indies Zimbabwe 2-1 win. That was the shorthand for Wednesday’s series decider, in which the West Indies Women beat Zimbabwe by 91 runs at Harare Sports Club to take the three-match ODI series. Put in to bat, the visitors made 271 for five and then bowled the hosts out for 180 in 47.3 overs.
Zimbabwe level the series before the decider
The result looked far from certain three days earlier. Zimbabwe squared the series on Sunday by chasing 140 after West Indies folded for 139. Nyasha Gwanzura took four for 33 and finished unbeaten on 18, and her side won by four wickets with 55 balls to spare. Having opened the tour with a 99-run victory, the Caribbean team had been handed a sharp reminder that the hosts were no pushovers.
Matthews and Campbelle take control
Hayley Matthews made sure there was no repeat. She scored 34 of the 38 runs West Indies made in the first ten overs and went on to make 118, her second century of the series. In the opener she had hit 182 off 156 balls, the highest ODI score by a West Indies woman and the sixth-highest in the history of women’s ODIs. Two innings like that inside a week is rare for any batter, let alone a captain.
Shemaine Campbelle was the ideal partner. The pair added 160 together, the stand that gave West Indies control, and Campbelle fell for 96, agonisingly short of what would have been her second ODI hundred. The side added 57 in the final ten overs to reach 271, a total that proved well beyond Zimbabwe.
Bowlers close out the chase
The chase never got going. West Indies struck three times in the powerplay, and although Josephine Nkomo stayed unbeaten on 74, she found little support at the other end. Ashmini Munisar took two for 32, Jannillea Glasgow two for 37 and Aaliyah Alleyne two for 39, a spread of wickets that showed how well the attack worked as a unit. Zimbabwe’s bowlers had their moments too, with Sibanda finishing on two for 42.
What the win means for the Women’s Championship
Beyond the trophy, the win matters for the table. The series is part of the ICC Women’s Championship, where each victory is worth two points, and West Indies had said before the first ball that they were targeting all six. After the Sunday slip they leave with four, while Zimbabwe take two.
One worry for the visitors is Campbelle’s fitness. Coverage of the decider flagged it as the one concern in an otherwise comfortable win, and with Matthews not part of the T20I leg that follows, the team will want its experienced batter available.
For Zimbabwe, the tour still leaves positives. Gwanzura’s all-round work in the second match, Modester Mupachikwa’s 86 in the first and Nkomo’s 74 in the third all suggest a side that can compete when conditions suit.
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