As the West Indies made history by reaching the T20 World Cup 2024 semifinals for the first time since 2018, captain Hayley Matthews acknowledged the enormous delight and happiness in her team’s performance.
In the final group phase match, West Indies had to defeat the undefeated England squad by six wickets while chasing a target of 142 in 18 overs. They met the task head-on and prevailed by six wickets.
Given that the West Indies had exited the World Cup in the first round the previous two times, many had discounted their chances of making it to the semifinals. Their record against England, who had won 13 straight T20I matches against them since 2019, was added to that.
After losing their opening match to South Africa by ten wickets, the squad overcame this setback by remaining calm and focused, showing their heart and will to win as they advanced to the next round. It was a fantastic comeback.
Yes, there was a great deal of joy. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished in this tournament thus far. We’ve just bounced back against Bangladesh and Scotland and haven’t beaten England in roughly six years.
Many people wrote us off coming into this tournament. How we’ve been able to go about our cricket, especially after the start we had against South Africa,” Matthews said at the press conference following the game.
“We last defeated them, as far as I can recall, back in 2018, but everyone came here with a belief and a fight. It also demonstrates our collective ability as a West Indian team.
If there’s one thing that I believe many who oppose us know, it’s that we have a lot of hearts and a lot of struggles. And today we simply demonstrated that,” she remarked.
To emphasize what it meant to participate in a World Cup and advance to the semifinals, the West Indies captain also discussed the geographical difficulties faced in the Caribbean, the scarcity of resources, and the sacrifices made by the cricket players.
I believe a lot of sacrifices have been made. I’m doing the hard yards in the Caribbean differently than the other girls because I travel and play a lot of franchise cricket. However, I’ve watched these girls play against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, spend a month in training, play in the CPL, and then return home for a week or two before coming here.
We have to be away from home, and I have to be away from our country because there are so many other islands. Our team has no members who reside in Antigua, where we typically camp.
Therefore, I believe that the girls’ sacrifice is now being shown, and I suppose that’s what makes it or increases my pride to see how they give up something to reap the benefits later on,” Matthews said.
To be honest, a lot of the time, we just don’t have it like the others. Being given the chance to come out, represent your country, and make a career from it, I believe (for) every single individual transforms their life. Back home in the Caribbean, sometimes we need facilities, and many of our girls come from meager circumstances.