Captain Hayley Matthews lauds Shemaine Campbelle as understrength West Indies upstage reigning champions New Zealand in Southampton.

No Chinelle Henry, no Stafanie Taylor, no problems for the Windies at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

Shemaine Campbelle played the innings of her life to steer the Caribbean outfit to a famous nail-biting victory over the reigning champs, winning with a ball to spare.

Campbelle (90* off 62) also claimed a maiden half-century in T20 internationals in the process, as she anchored their run chase.

Captain Hayley Matthews’ advice proved crucial as Campbelle produced a resilient batting display.

“(Matthews) said to me, ‘keep believeing in yourself and keep playing to your strengths,'” Campbelle revealed post-game.

“I just wanted to go out there and bat, I said to myself ‘I’m going to do this for my team’ and I did it. For me, I just had to back my skills, I know I’m a calibre of player that can go out and change the situation, so I just had to go out and do that.”

Matthews hailed Campbelle’s ability to step up, given the absence of two important contributors.

“When we went into bat, we were probably a bit behind the run rate, versus where we wanted to be, but obviously the wickets in hand were super vital, super important,” Matthews said post-game.

“So having a set batter at the crease was crucial and then for Shemaine to play the innings that she did was fantastic. She’s obviously very emotional, as she should be, she’s someone that plays with a lot of heart, and a lot of fight and I think at one point throughout that innings she was struggling to get the ball hit, but I think she just stuck with it and fought with it and ended up with the score that she did, which was pretty amazing to see.”

“When people look at a West Indies women’s team, they see sometimes just a few names and a few players, so to be able to come out here as a group, have players like Aaliyah Alleyne step up like she did with the ball, Afy Fletcher obviously, but just a full contribution from the team definitely means a lot and I think it’ll give us a lot of confidence going back into the rest of the games knowing that when we do get (Henry and Taylor) back within this squad, it just adds to what we can do, and if we can beat teams like this without the two of them, I think our potential is limitless.”

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The West Indies will be back in action on Thursday against Scotland at Leeds, in a match can now set them up for a deep run at the tournament.

“It’s obviously really exciting and I think everyone’s going to be high on vibes tonight, but at the same time, at a World Cup, you have to be on the ball every single match,” Matthews continued.

“We play Scotland next and I certainly feel that you can’t take any team lightly in this World Cup, T20 crcket has got to a place where one or two players can take a game away from you. We’re going be right back on it when we come back for the next match, so obviously enjoy the celebrations and enjoy the vibes that we have, but making sure we don’t get complacent and know that we’re going to have to lock back in and play really good cricket to beat Scotland again.”

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Melie Kerr and the Kiwis will rue an uncharacteristic fielding display, dropping several key catching chances.

“It’s a tough day and a tough day to happen in a really important game for us in a World Cup and I guess our bowlers are creating the opportunities, but we aren’t taking them,” Kerr said after the match.

“Too many chances put down. The confitions were good … no excuses, just really disappointing.

“We stayed in the game and stayed in the fight despite dropping chances and not quite executing in the field, but I thought the way Cambelle played it was a brilliant innings and her ball striking ability especially and I think also their running between the wickets, the ability to turn ones into twos as well, they outran us and outfielded us today.”

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“We can be sad tonight, we can be disappointed, but then come tomorrow we’ve got to turn up and be better and look forward because there are still plenty of games to come.”

It’s a quick turnaround for New Zealand, who now face Sri Lanka in Southampton on Tuesday.

— https://www.icc-cricket.com/tournaments/womens-t20-worldcup-2026/news