West Indies vs Australia arrives at the Oval on Tuesday with Hayley Matthews leaning hard into the underdog tag. West Indies face unbeaten Australia in the first T20 World Cup semi-final, and Matthews says her side have nothing to lose.
Hayley Matthews and West Indies
Matthews said the pressure sits with Australia because they are expected to win. She also said West Indies can be “quite fearless going out there” and that there is “an added fire to us when people think we can’t get the job done.”
The West Indies captain has top-scored for her side in the tournament with 48 against New Zealand. She will need more than that if West Indies are to turn a narrow qualification path into a final place.
Australia at the Oval
Australia have carried a perfect tournament into the semi-final. They swept aside Group A, including India at Lord’s on Sunday, and have already handed over the 20-over crown they held two years ago and the 50-over title they lost last year.
Sophie Molineux has been named captain, with Australia still bringing a line-up that has run hot through the event. Each of Australia’s top five has made at least one half-century, and Ellyse Perry has added 56 against India.
West Indies against Australia
The matchup is weighted by history as much as form. West Indies women have beaten Australia only twice in T20 cricket, once in the 2016 World Cup final at Eden Gardens and again in a bilateral game in Sydney in October 2023, when Matthews made 132.
That is the route West Indies are leaning on now: a side that lost against Ireland on Saturday, then had to wait for the England v New Zealand result to know they had qualified, against a team that has not dropped a match. Matthews said Australia carry the bigger burden because “everyone’s expecting us not to win,” and that is the line West Indies are trying to live behind.
