“He was an MI fan from the very first season” - Hayley Matthews opens up on her special bond with Mumbai Indians 

All-rounder Hayley Matthews has revealed that she has always been a big admirer of the Mumbai Indians (MI) because her father has been a fan of the franchise since the very first season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Matthews starred for Mumbai with both bat and ball as they thumped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by nine wickets in a WPL 2023 match at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Monday, March 6. The 24-year-old claimed 3/28 with her off-spin before clobbering 77* off 38 balls.

In a post-match conference, Matthews opened up on her special bond with the MI franchise. Responding to a query, she admitted:

“From when I was pretty young, I followed and supported my dad’s favourite sports teams. He was an MI fan from the very first season and a huge Sachin Tendulkar fan.

“When I was bought in the auction, somebody brought back all my tweets from 2013 around ‘Come on MI’ or something like that. It was pretty funny to see that.”

Matthews added that being the Orange Cap holder is an honor, but stated that she is not thinking much about it and is focused on doing her best for the team. The West Indian cricketer commented:

“I haven’t thought about it, to be honest (on being Orange Cap holder). For me, it’s just about going out there and scoring as many runs as possible. An accolade like this has come about now and it’s an honor.”

Matthews has 124 runs to her name from two matches at a strike rate of 179.71.

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“We knew we were in with a big chance” - Matthews reflects on comprehensive win over RCB

After RCB won the toss and batted first, MI did well to restrict them to 155. Matthews admitted that the bowlers did a fine job, stating that they expected the par score to be 170-plus. Asserting that they were confident in the chase, the all-rounder said:

“Before the start of the game, we thought that the par score would be around 170-180. When we had RCB out for 155, we knew we were in with a big chance. The wicket was also pretty good to bat on. And once we had a batter batting deep, it was easy. Nat (Nat Sciver-Brunt) and I could do it today.”

On converting her start into a big score, she added that she was keen to learn from her mistakes. Matthews explained:

“I think in seven out of my last 10 T20I innings, I have got to 30s and 40s. Today, I got to a good start again. I told myself to stay focused and be more responsible at the crease.”

Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt (55* off 29) added 114* for the second-wicket stand as MI raced home in 14.2 overs.