Matthews, Grimmond hail composed approach after record-breaking stand sinks Ireland

West Indies Women Captain Hayley Matthews and opening partner Realeanna Grimmond praised their composed approach after producing a dominant opening stand that guided the Caribbean side to a convincing nine-wicket victory over Ireland Women in the opening One-Day International.
The pair shared a match-winning 258-run opening partnership as West Indies chased down Ireland’s 269 with ease, finishing on 270-1 in just 38.4 overs. Matthews led the way with a magnificent unbeaten 159 from 123 balls, while Grimmond narrowly missed out on a maiden ODI century with an impressive 91 from 107 deliveries.
Although falling just nine runs short of three figures, Grimmond said she was proud of her contribution to the team’s victory.
“I felt like it was a real proud moment for me to get to 91. I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to the 100, but I’m still proud of my performance,” the young opener said.

The 258-run partnership laid the perfect platform for one of the West Indies Women’s most dominant ODI run chases, and Grimmond credited the pair’s calm approach throughout the innings.
“To be honest, not really, but I think we handled the situation really good because we started off really well and we just had the cruise getting into the middle overs. We didn’t have to rush anything because we were already on top,” she explained.
Matthews echoed those sentiments, highlighting the importance of a strong start during the Powerplay before maintaining the scoring rate without taking unnecessary risks.
“I feel like we had a good start in the power play and that gave us the opportunity to just play each ball on its merit through every single over,” the West Indies Captain said.
“I think what was really good is we kept picking up boundaries right throughout the innings and finding a way to keep the scoreboard ticking over, which was pretty helpful and gave us the opportunity to not have to take too much risk.”
Matthews reserved special praise for her opening partner, acknowledging Grimmond’s role in setting the tone for the successful chase.
“I think as a group, being able to chase down 270 was pretty cool, especially for the loss of one. I think big up yourself. Kudos to you for setting that tone with me at the top,” Matthews said in a post-match exchange with Grimmond.
The Captain also reflected on what the partnership meant beyond the individual milestones, emphasising that the team’s success remained the priority.
“Overall, I think the two of us together – I’m pretty proud of what we were able to achieve today. Most importantly, helping the team get a win and get two more points on the board for the championship.”
Matthews’ unbeaten century, coupled with her earlier figures of 3-52, earned her the Player-of-the-Match award, while Grimmond’s mature innings signalled her growing importance at the top of the West Indies batting order.