With injuries to three of West Indies’ other experienced batters in Deandra Dottin, Chinelle Henry and Stafanie Taylor, the pressure on Matthews shoulders was even greater than usual.
Given their depleted resources, the tourists started cautiously and crawled to 37-2 from the powerplay after Bell’s double-wicket maiden in the fourth over, with opener Qiana Joseph dismissed for two and Zaida James caught behind for a duck.
Wong and Arlott bowled with lively pace and bounce to unsettle the middle order, while the spin of Charlie Dean and Linsey Smith stifled them to ensure that England did not miss Sophie Ecclestone too much – and at 87-6 in the 14th over, the tourists’ innings looked to be stuttering to a sorry end.
But Matthews was unfazed, familiar with the role of carrying her team’s batting line-up. She was dropped by Charlie Dean on 73, albeit a very difficult one-handed chance at cover, but was otherwise sublime.
Any width was greeted by her trademark elegant drives and she struck the spinners firmly down the ground, the only partnership of note coming for the seventh wicket as she shared a stand of 47 with Mangru.
Starting the final over on 89, Matthews struck a four off Bell before having to turn down singles to keep herself on strike. A wide gifted an extra ball, and a scampered single saw her reach her third T20 century.
West Indies’ recent failure to qualify for the autumn’s 50-over World Cup has given their tour a rather different outlook, with younger players likely to be given more opportunities and chances to experiment – but any possibility of success already appears to rely solely on their captain’s brilliance.
