England’s new regime seal absolute best get started with ladies’s T20 blank sweep of West Indies

West Indies in any case introduced some combat within the 3rd T20 world at Chelmsford on Monday, led by means of their captain, Hayley Matthews, who took 3 wickets and scored 71 as she unsuccessfully battled the weather in an try to overhaul England’s under-par general of 144 for 5.

During a West Indies run-chase during which each groups had been nervously eyeing up the DLS par, and used to be disrupted by means of a 15-minute rain bathe halfway throughout the 16th over, England put down 3 consecutive catches off the bat of Realeanna Grimmond, sparking unwelcome reminiscences in their horror go out from the World Cup by the hands of West Indies remaining October.

But Danni Wyatt-Hodge ran in from deep midwicket and held directly to the fourth strive. While Matthews went down swinging – stuck at long-on off Lauren Bell – her wicket used to be the 3rd to fall in 4 balls right away after the resumption following the rain, as England snatched a 17-run win and a chain blank sweep.

Earlier, West Indies had limited England to 21 for 2 and 111 for 4, leaving the hosts to be bailed out of hassle by means of a half-century from Heather Knight, her first ever T20 world fifty on house soil.

Knight’s innings – struck simply two months after she used to be demoted from the captaincy – used to be deft and leading edge, interspersed with opposite ramps and scoops. It used to be a knock made all of the extra spectacular by means of the truth that the previous England captain spent the remaining 4 overs of the innings hobbling because of a hamstring downside, and used to be not able to take to the sector when West Indies batted.

Put in to bat, England had discovered themselves below early drive: Wyatt-Hodge needed to trudge off for a 2d consecutive first-ball duck – bowled, once more, by means of left-armer Zaida James – whilst Matthews despatched down a attractiveness to the in-form Sophia Dunkley, whose tried reduce ended within the gloves of the wicktkeeper Mandy Mangru.

Matthews struck two times within the center overs, having Nat Sciver-Brunt stuck at the deep midwicket boundary and firing one in complete and instantly to Amy Jones which took out center stump. The 19-year-old seamer Jahzara Claxton additionally chipped in with a wicket on debut, as Alice Capsey holed out to deep duvet within the penultimate over – however Knight’s effort ensured that England got here out on most sensible.

More to practice …