Women’s T20 World Cup: England register a thumping win over West Indies

England Women registered a big seven-wicket win over West Indies Women in the second match of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 on Saturday (February 11). West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews top-scored with 42 off 32 to post a respectable 136-run target while batting first. But Dunkley’s 34 off 18 and Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 40* off 30 proved enough for England to register a dominant win with 33 balls to spare.

Matthews won the toss and elected to bat first at Paarl’s Boland Park with veteran batting all-rounder Stafanie Taylor returning to international cricket. England managed to field their strongest side without star all-rounder Kate Cross.

Stafanie struggled to find momentum but Hayley gave West Indies a flying start. Both the openers pulled off a 47-run stand for the first wicket in six overs. England bowler Sarah Glenn dismissed Stafanie in the seventh over to give her team an opening, which eventually changed the momentum.

World no.1 bowler Sophie Ecclestone took Hayley Matthews’s big wicket in the 11th over to add more pressure on the Caribbean side. Hayley top-scored with 42 off 32 with the help of eight fours and Shemaine Campbelle added 34 off 37 but other batters struggled against Ecclestone’s magic. Ecclestone took three wickets while conceding just 23 runs from her four-over spell and Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Glenn added one wicket each for England.

Sophia Dunkley gave England a quick start with two fours and a six off Matthews in the third over. The 24-year-old with Danielle Wyatt formed a 37-run partnership for the first wicket in just 3.3 overs. Star pace all-rounder Chinelle Henry gave West Indies an opening with Wyatt’s wicket in the fourth over and took a big wicket of Dunkley in the sixth over to keep West Indies alive in the game.

Afy Fletcher dismissed young batting all-rounder Alice Capsey for 13 runs in the eighth over and England seemed a little distracted during the chase. But skipper Heather Knight and star all-rounder Natalie Sciver-Brunt avoided further slip-ups with a match-winning partnership of 67* for the fourth wicket. Sciver top-scored 40* off 30 while Knight scored an unbeaten 32, while Henry took two wickets for West Indies.