ENG-W vs WI-W | Heather Knight and Lauren Bell help England complete 3-0 whitewash over West Indies

‌Brief score: ENG-W 144/5 (20) [Heather Knight 66*(47), Nat Sciver-Brunt 37(40); Hayley Matthews 3/32(4)] xxx WI127/8 (20) [Hayley Matthews 71(54); Lauren Bell 2/11(4), Linsey Smith 2/25(4)] by 17 runs.

Opting to bowl first at the County Ground, West Indies had a great start as left-arm spinner Zaida James castled Danni Wyatt-Hodge with the first ball of the innings. With skipper Hayley Matthews also striking in her first over to dismiss in-form opener Sophia Dunkley, England ended the powerplay at 24/2. But skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt, along with former captain Heather Knight, steadied the England ship with a 48-run partnership for the third wicket off 39 balls. Sciver-Brunt’s struggling stay at the crease, where she managed 37 off 40 balls, was ended by her counterpart Matthews. However, the hosts’ innings got a fresh lease with new batter Amy Jones starting aggressively scoring three fours in her first seven balls as England reached the 100-run mark at the end of 15 overs. Knight also accelerated towards the end of the innings, after a slow start, to reach her eighth WT20I fifty in 38 balls as England ended their innings at 144/5 with 75 runs coming in the last nine overs. Knight hit seven fours and a six to top score for England with an unbeaten 66 off 47 balls while Matthews was the pick among the Windies bowlers with a spell of 3/32 in four overs.

In response, the visitors also started in a similar fashion losing a wicket off the first ball as Qiana Joseph was cleaned up by pacer Lauren Bell. But fellow opener Matthews tried to inject some momentum to the chase with a six and four in off-spinner Charlie Dean’s first over. But James’ struggling innings at the other end meant West Indies crawled to 34/2 at the end of the powerplay. But the West Indies skipper continued to find the boundaries as the visitors were left to chase 87 runs in their last 10 overs. The Mumbai Indians all-rounder added a valuable 46 runs off 34 balls for the fourth wicket with Shabika Gajnabi to raise hopes of a first win on the tour for West Indies. But a double-wicket haul in the 17th over by left-arm spinner Linsey Smith turned the match on its head. And with Lauren Bell dismissing Matthews with the first ball of the next over, it was all but over for the Windies as they managed only 127/8 in their 20 overs. Matthews’ excellent knock of 71 off 54 balls, which included 11 fours and a six, along with her bowling effort went in vain as England completed the whitewash with Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith picking up two wickets apiece.