West Indies women not worried by batting despite T20 World Cup win

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews remained unfazed by her team's batting struggles in their chase of 99 against Sri Lanka, emphasizing that securing the win was the primary objective. The team lost five wickets in the process but ultimately reached the target with 23 balls to spare.

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At the end of the day we got over the line. I don’t feel like there was any point in time where we felt we weren’t going to get the runs.

Matthews herself was the standout performer, delivering her best-ever World Cup bowling figures. Opening the attack, she claimed three wickets in her first two overs, dismantling Sri Lanka's top order. The opposition was eventually bowled out for 98 in 19.4 overs after being sent in to bat.

"At the end of the day we got over the line," Matthews stated in her post-match interview. "I don’t feel like there was any point in time where we felt we weren’t going to get the runs." She added that losing wickets, while not ideal, did not put the team in a precarious position, and that having batters peak at the right time could be beneficial.

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Yes, we lost five wickets but we were still in a very comfortable position during the innings and I certainly feel if we are batting the way we are now and getting over the line, when we have some of our batters peaking at the right time it might be good for us.

Matthews also highlighted the advantage of winning the toss on a pitch that favored the West Indies' four-spin attack. She noted the presence of several left-handed batters in the Sri Lankan lineup, which made the inclusion of off-spinner Ashmini Munisar a strategic success. Munisar, who came in for Quiana Joseph, performed exceptionally well.

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The wicket definitely felt like it had a bit of tennis ball bounce early on. Really good that we got to go out and bowl and take advantage of that.

Matthews was named Player of the Match for her all-round performance. Her spell included a spectacular caught-and-bowled dismissal of Vishmi Gunaratne in the first over and the wickets of Sri Lanka's captain Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama in quick succession. Despite brief partnerships, Sri Lanka's batting collapsed, with Kavisha Dilhari and Nilakshika Silva being the main contributors with 21 and 30 runs respectively.

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Looking at the line-up of Sri Lanka, they do have a lot of left-handers within their side and we felt someone like Ashmini could make a massive difference with her off-spin. She came in and performed wonderfully.