The scoreboard told a familiar tale as West Indies Women tasted another defeat by eight wickets to England in the opening T20I of their three-match series. But amidst the disappointment, Hayley Matthews again stood tall with a century that served as a beacon of excellence in an otherwise tough outing on a chilly evening in Canterbury.

As has been the case many times before, the performance left the West Indies captain with mixed emotions. On one hand, her brilliant 67-ball 100 was a display of grit and flair, but on the other, it proved insufficient to lift her fledgling squad over the finish line as England easily raced to 150-2 in response to their 146-7.

"Obviously a pretty good start for myself personally, and I am glad I was able to get some runs. But this is just the beginning of this series, so I would love to carry some of this form into the remainder of it and not have this be my best knock," Matthews said in a post-match interview on Wednesday.

Her innings, which had 16 fours and a six, was another demonstration of her immense quality. However, Matthews admitted she felt the nerves as she approached the milestone in the final over —until a fortunate miss off the final delivery by England pacer Emily Arlott gave her a chance to register her third T20I century and the first by a West Indian woman against England.

"Yeah, it was quite nervy actually going into that last over. But I just had to keep going hard and try to get as many runs on the board as possible. And yeah, I am pretty thankful that Arlott didn't hit any stumps for that last ball there," she recalled.

Despite the defeat, Matthews continues to embrace the weight of responsibility that comes with captaincy—especially with a starting team that featured several young talents promoted from the domestic ranks. The absence of experienced campaigners such as Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin, and Chinelle Henry left Matthews leading a group still learning the ropes of international cricket.

"I think I just have to keep encouraging them,” she said when asked how she will rally the squad for the next match.

"We've obviously got a very young group that played today, especially within the 11... It's such a steep climb coming to international cricket, especially against a team like England versus our regional competition. So it is going to be tough for them sometimes; we just have to encourage them as much as we can. They are trying, and they will continue to try. So hopefully we can see some of them build some confidence and have one or two bright sparks throughout the series," she added.

While for some the captaincy might seem burdensome, Matthews, 27, carries a quiet pride in being the leader of this evolving team—a torchbearer for the next generation, much like her own idol Stafanie Taylor once was.

"I think as West Indies captain, I'm in a fortunate position to not only just be a leader of the team but to be a role model for a lot of these younger girls coming in. A lot of them do look up to me, and I cherish it a lot and the impact that I can make on not only them but also the other ones at home watching," she shared.

"So, yeah, I do love being able to perform and lead from the front. And I think that's something that I learned from Stafanie Taylor. I remember growing up as a young girl and watching her perform and, I guess, carry a lot of the weight of the team on her shoulders, and I admired it a lot. It's probably one of those qualities that I did try to take from her as well," Matthews noted.