Last Updated on July 11, 2026, 2:43 PM AST by Anthony Morris
Ireland: West Indies captain Hayley Matthews produced a sensational all-round performance as she scored an unbeaten 159 and claimed three wickets to guide her team to a commanding victory over Ireland in the opening One-Day International (ODI) at Bready Cricket Club on Friday, July 10, 2026.
Chasing 270 for victory, West Indies reached 270 after losing only a single wicket and won by an impressive nine wickets. Matthews led the run chase with a magnificent 159 not out from 123 balls while Realenna Grimmond remained unbeaten on 91 from 107 deliveries as the pair shared an unbroken 168-run partnership.
St Kitts’ Mathews dominated the whole match as she also dismissed three wickets of the Irish batters while bowling. The toss was won by the West Indies team and captain Mathews chose to do fielding first. The Ireland team scored 269 runs with 9 wickets and 46 balls remaining.
After the Ireland batting, Qiana Joseph and Realenna Grimmoun opened the batting for the West Indies team. Joseph gave the solid start to the team with 43 runs from 48 balls and was caught out by Amy Hunter on the ball delivered by Louise Little. Grimmoun remained not out in the match with a score of 91 from 107 balls and smashed 9 fours and 1 six.
After the west indies team lost the wicket of Joseph, captain Hayley Mathews came on the field and remained unbeaten for the rest of the match as she scored 159 runs from 123 balls. During her batting she hit 24 boundaries and 2 maximums. Mathews dismissed 3 wickets of Ireland’s batters including Gaby Lewis, Laura Delany and Arlene Kelly.
Mathews was named as the player of the match and shared the unbeaten partnership of 168 runs with Realenna Grimmoun. Additionally, before the tour of Ireland she performed outstandingly in the ICC Women’s T20 world cup tournament.
In the ICC T20 Tournament, she scored 145 runs total and claimed 10 wickets in six matches. One of her highest scores in the ICC tournament was against Australia with 30 runs and became one of the leading all rounders in the tournament.
Notably, under her captaincy the West Indies team reached the semi finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026. The 2nd ODI match is scheduled to take place on tomorrow on July 12 and 3rd ODI will be played on Wednesday July 15 at the same venue Bready Cricket Club in Bready.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
