West Indies suffered yet another loss as they lost to England in their campaign opener by seven wickets at Boland Park, Paarl on February 11. Heather Knight were dominant with their power-hitting as they made the run chase of 136 look like a child's play and won the game with 33 balls to spare.
West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews lacked support from the other end as Stafanie Taylor scored just three runs from 15 deliveries. Matthews departed just after the halfway mark after a 32-ball 42. Shemaine Champbelle could not score at a brisk rate either and scored 34 runs from 37 deliveries.
Sophie Ecclestone ensured that West Indies don't score big in the slog overs as they managed to post 135/7. Left-arm spinner Ecclestone took three wickets for 23 runs.
Chasing the total, Sophia Dunkley dominated in the powerplay overs. Danielle Wyatt (11) got out early but Dunkley's 18-ball 34 ensured that England stay at the top of run chase. West Indies had some hope when Alice Capsey got stumped after scoring 13 runs from nine deliveries.
However, Natalie Sciver and skipper Heather Knight ensured that England register a flawless victory. They shared an unbeaten 67-run partnership for the fourth wicket from 43 deliveries. Sciver scored 40 from 30 balls whereas Knight scored 32 runs from 22 deliveries.
“I think we wanted above 145-150, we got a decent start, but couldn't capitalize in the end. We tried to got the team off to a good start, but couldn't go on (and post a good total). We know the talent she (Stafanie Taylor) has, we are backing her in the next couple of games. Every match is important in the World Cup, got to get those points on the board, need to keep getting better,” said Matthews as she defend Taylor after a poor display with the bat.
Sciver felt that it was a two-paced wicket but revealed that she just followed the English approach of taking the game head-on.
“It was a bit tricky on this two paced pitch. (I) Had to see the team home. We want to keep walking towards danger, want to be aggressive, got to take the team over the line. Need to keep the team going and keep going,” player of the match Sciver said in the post-match presentation.
