West Indies captain Hayley Matthews will miss the third and final ODI against Sri Lanka due to an illness, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced.
Matthews missed the second ODI in Hambantota too, as West Indies were rolled over for 92 in 31 overs with Sri Lanka chasing down the target in 21.2 overs and winning by five wickets. Shemaine Campbelle led the West Indies unit in the second game and is likely to continue as captain for the third ODI which will be played in Hambantota on June 21.
CWI was, however, hopeful of Matthews recovering in time for the three-match T20I series which gets underway from June 24 at the same venue.
"West Indies Captain, Hayley Matthews has been ruled out of the ongoing ODI Series against Sri Lanka due to illness," read a statement from CWI. "She will continue to be monitored by the CWI Medical Team and will hopefully recover in time for the T20I series. Everyone at CWI wishes her a speedy recovery."
Matthews has been the lynchpin of the West Indies unit in the last year and a half. She is comfortably the highest run-scorer for West Indies in ODIs since the start of 2023 with 519 runs in nine games, averaging 74.14, which includes three centuries. With the ball, she has picked 11 wickets during this time frame, the joint-highest with Afy Fletcher.
West Indies have already conceded the three-match ODI series by a 2-0 margin. They lost the opening game last Saturday by six wickets before going down again on Tuesday. Matthews played the first ODI where she scored 38 off 53 balls and went for 33 runs off her five overs without picking a wicket.
The three T20Is will be played on June 24, 26 and 28 with all the matches being played in Hambantota.