Matthews and West Indies ready to have a ‘good go’ at Scotland 

Media release

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews wants to have a 'good go' at Scotland as they aim to put their defeat to South Africa behind them.

The Windies were unable to build alongside Stafanie Taylor, who made 44 not out, as South Africa chased down 118 without losing a wicket on Friday.

Now, Matthews’ side face Scotland on Sunday with both teams searching for their first win at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Windies will likely do so without Taylor, who picked up a knee injury during her batting innings and is being assessed by the medical team.

“I try not to take on more pressure,” Matthews said. “I feel like I have to and I want to score every single time I go on the pitch.

“Whether Steph is playing or not playing, she could get one ball, I could get one ball, Deandra [Dottin] could get one ball at the crease.

“So, I'm going to go out there and try my best every single time I step onto the field and would love to have a good go against Scotland to take some form into the rest of matches.

“But I'm not going to dwell on if she's playing or not too much. I think I'm just going to focus on what I can control, which is what I do at the crease.”

Matthews made 10 at the top of the order as the West Indies batters got several starts with only Taylor able to push on.

Nonkululeko Mlaba took four wickets with pace-on spin, something Matthews and her fellow off-spinner Karishma Ramharack may look to do against Scotland.

She added: “I think that was probably Mlaba's key when played against us. She varied her pace very well and was able to sneak through a few of the defences with pace on the ball too.

“I think we did try to take that into our bowling innings. Karishma Ramharack bowled pretty well.

“I think I had a bit of success bowling at a good pace and being able to be economical but we weren’t able to get the breakthrough with the wickets.

“I think just picking up all those facts and hopefully taking it into the Scotland game, we can see a bit more of a breakthrough with those quicker balls.”

Scotland are continuing to adjust to the heat on their ICC Women's T20 World Cup debut and another day with temperatures in the high 30s is expected.

But Rachel Slater has backed her teammates to adjust to the challenge as they look to bounce back after losing to Bangladesh in the blaring sun on Thursday.

“Naturally it's probably something that does affect my preparation and maybe does make it a little bit more difficult,” she said.

“There's not really a lot that can prepare you for that. You can do all the training you want but when you're actually out there for that long, it is really difficult.

“We're from probably the coldest climate but we're going to have to get used to it. It's pretty ridiculous heat at times but it's a World Cup and you have to use that adrenaline to get you through and be smart with your decisions.”