England 186 for 7 (Wyatt-Hodge 64, Knight 43, Munisar 2-42) beat West Indies 148 for 5 (Henry 51*, Dean 2-31, Bell 1-20) by 38 runs
West Indies strike early
Henry let out an almighty roar when she struck with the fifth ball of the match, a fuller one outside off stump with a hint of away swing which lured a drive from Amy Jones and found the edge, looping to Afy Fletcher at short third. Henry conceded 17 runs off her next over as Wyatt-Hodge settled in with a pull through midwicket and a top edge which beat Fletcher.
Offspinner Ashmini Munisar entered the attack and responded to Sophia Dunkley’s reverse-sweep for four with a fuller ball next, too full for Dunkley’s attempted sweep and she was pinned lbw. Despite the early falls of wicket though, Wyatt-Hodge and Alice Capsey managed to outfox the field and take England to their best powerplay of the tournament so far at 57 for 2.
Wyatt-Hodge does it again
Wyatt-Hodge jumped to the top of the tournament run-scoring charts by backing up her century on opening night with another pivotal score, having endured two lean innings in between. She punished some short bowling early, then peppered the off side with some classic and lofted drives. She brought up her fifty off 32 balls with a back-footed flick off the pads to cover
Capsey unfurled a lovely reverse for four off Karishma Ramharack but then advanced to a length ball two deliveries later and it to Henry at long-on ending a 65-run stand with Wyatt-Hodge for the third wicket. Wyatt-Hodge and Heather Knight put on 40 more but when they ran on Knight’s cut straight to the cover fielder, Wyatt-Hodge didn’t have the legs in the sapping heat to make it to the other end.
No late fireworks for England
There was to be no reprise of the high-powered union between Freya Kemp and Dani Gibson which blew Scotland away at Headingley on Saturday night when Matthews bowled Kemp attempting to sweep. Knight was eventually run out after surviving a couple of near misses. Gibson too fell cheaply on the penultimate ball of the innings but by then, the home side had plenty on the board.
Matthews’ Ashes moment
Matthews was nonplussed when England managed to overturn a not-out decision for caught behind as she attempted a cut off Linsey Smith in the fourth over. Matthews was adamant she hadn’t made contact with the ball and one angle on the replay showed a gap between bat and ball while UltraEdge indicated a spike. TV umpire Nimali Perera ruled that Matthews was out but the West Indies captain spent a good deal of time making her case to the on-field umpires.
Matthews watched more replays in the West Indies dugout and continued to disagree with the decision in conversation with the fourth umpire on the sidelines. It was reminiscent of last year’s Ashes Snicko controversy when TV umpire Chris Gaffaney upheld a not-out decision for Australia’s Alex Carey when a clear spike appeared several frames before the ball had passed the bat. But, in this instance, the scorecard showed Matthews out for 14.
West Indies spun out
In the last over of the powerplay, Deandra Dottin helped herself to 15 runs off Dean’s first four balls, including back-to-back fours followed by a thumping six over long-on. But Dean’s riposte on the last ball was to toss one up on middle and leg as Dottin looked to clear long-on once more. She didn’t connect fully and found Capsey just inside the boundary. West Indies were 46 for 2 after six overs and some frugal bowling by Ecclestone, followed by Dean’s second wicket in as many balls when she had Jannillea Glasgow chopping on with the first ball of her next over kept England in control.
The last time these sides met at a T20 World Cup, in 2024, a rash of fielding errors cost England the match and the chance to progress to the knockout phase. While they are a vastly improved side, the hosts missed two chances in three balls as Claxton and Henry dug in.
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor, women’s cricket, at Cricinfo
