Campbelle’s unbeaten 90 stuns champions New Zealand in West Indies’ World Cup opener
West Indies stunned the defending champions in their tournament opener, Shemaine Campbelle’s unbeaten 90 hunting down 163 with a ball to spare.
Jun 14, 2026
Shemaine Campbelle had played more than 150 T20 internationals without a half-century to her name. In Southampton she did not stop at fifty. Her unbeaten 90 dragged West Indies to a seven-wicket win over defending champions New Zealand, one of the first jolts of the Women’s T20 World Cup and the kind of result that reshapes a group inside the opening week.
Hayley Matthews won the toss at the Rose Bowl and asked New Zealand to bat. The decision looked questionable for much of the first innings, then it looked inspired the moment Campbelle settled at the crease.
New Zealand set a chase, then let it slip
New Zealand built steadily to 162 for 6. Brooke Halliday top-scored with 40 and Izzy Gaze gave the innings early thrust with a brisk 39, before Maddy Green finished unbeaten on 35 to push the total past 160. It felt like a winning score on a used surface.
What kept West Indies in it was Aaliyah Alleyne, who tore through the middle order to finish with 4 for 27. Her spell stopped New Zealand kicking on through the back ten, and that they were held to 162 rather than the total they had looked set for mattered enormously by the end.
Campbelle and Matthews hunt down 163
The reply began badly when Qiana Joseph was run out in a mix-up, but Matthews and Campbelle steadied everything with a stand that put the chase back on schedule. Matthews made 48 off 37 before she fell, and from there the night belonged to Campbelle.
She hit seven fours and three sixes, picking the gaps and clearing the rope when New Zealand pulled their length back. New Zealand did not help themselves in the field, putting down a string of chances as the pressure built. Campbelle was dropped, survived, and made them pay every time. West Indies got home at 163 for 3 with a single ball to spare, Campbelle stranded on 90 not out and named player of the match.
A statement, and a warning for the champions
New Zealand arrived as the team that lifted the trophy in 2024, and this is Sophie Devine’s farewell tournament before she retires from international cricket, with Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu also bowing out once it ends. A defeat in the opening fixture leaves them with little margin in a tight group, and their fielding will be the first thing the coaching staff revisit.
For West Indies the win is a marker. Campbelle has carried a long career without the headline innings her talent deserved, and she chose the biggest stage to deliver it. Matthews now has a side that believes it can trouble anyone, and a result like this early can carry a team a long way in a short tournament.