Heather Knight scored an undefeated 66 off 47 balls to take England to 144. Despite captain Hayley Matthews' efforts with bat and ball, West Indies were unable to get over the line
Heather Knight's unbeaten fifty overshadowed Hayley Matthews' all-round effort as England pipped West Indies by 17 runs to sweep the women's T20I series 3-0 at Chelmsford on Monday (May 26, 2025). Chasing a 145-run target, the Windies were limited to 127 runs for the loss of eight wickets.
Knight scored an undefeated 66 off 47 balls to take England to 144 for five in 20 overs. Windies captain Matthews returned figures of 3/32 in four overs to spearhead her team's bowling effort. She then starred with the bat, smashing 71 off 54 balls, but got no support from the other end with the next highest score being 15 (off 16) from Realeanna Grimmond.
Lauren Bell, Em Arlott, Charlie Dean, Linsey Smith and Sarah Glenn claimed two wickets apiece for the hosts. Matthews was named the Player of the Match for her all-round heroics, even though in a losing cause.
Earlier, Matthews won the toss and elected to bowl first. England had already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series and the Windies came out trying to avoid a whitewash, and failed at that objective.
The visitors made four changes to their playing XI, bringing in Realeanna Grimmond, Jahzara Claxton, Jannillea Glasgow and Ashmini Munisar in place of Stephanie Taylor, Shemaine Campbelle, Cherr-Ann Fraser and Karishma Ramharack, respectively. England made one change, inducting Sarah Glenn in place of Issy Wong.
West Indies Women: Qiana Joseph, Hayley Matthews (c), Zaida James, Realeanna Grimmond, Jahzara Claxton, Shabika Gajnabi, Aaliyah Alleyne, Mandy Mangru (wk), Jannillea Glasgow, Afy Fletcher, Ashmini Munisar
England Women: Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley, Nat Sciver-Brunt (c), Heather Knight, Amy Jones (wk), Alice Capsey, Em Arlott, Charlotte Dean, Sarah Glenn, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell
Upon winning the toss, West Indies skipper Matthews said, "Obviously, the opportunity to just do something a bit different, and hopefully go there and do it well. Just keep encouraging the girls. But at the same time, we feel like we've probably had periods where we've done okay, but just not long enough and for a consistent enough amount of time. So, just trying to do the good things a lot longer, and hopefully we can put a full game together.
Her opposite number Nat Sciver-Brunt said: "We were actually fancying to bat today. So happy days. We will try to still bring out that ruthlessness that we've done so well so far. I guess that's the challenge for us to really complete the series as we have started. We're very, very welcome here (Chelmsford), and we always have a nice time at Chelmsford."
The T20I series will be followed by a three-match ODI leg, starting May 30 at Derby.