18th over: England 127-4 (Knight 53, Capsey 3) The sun has disappeared in Chelmsford to be replaced by some foreboding grey cloud. The floodlights are starting to take effect. Knight plays the reverse paddle scoop and nails it, the boundary brings up her 8th T20I fifty, back in the ranks but the runs keep coming. Two overs to go… 17th over: England 118-4 (Knight 46, Capsey 1) Heather Knight clips three twos in a row to keep the scoreboard ticking. She’ll want to be there at the end and haul England to a decent score. Hayley Matthews sorts out Amy Jones with a full and straight ball that scuds into the stumps. Jones departs after never really getting going. Alice Capsey is the new batter and she nudges her first ball down the ground for a single. England need a strong finish to make this competitive. 16th over: England 111-3 (Knight 40, Jones 22) Eleven off the over as Amy Jones finds the boundary twice in the over, a flick off her pads and an audacious scoop down to fine leg. 15th over: England 100-3 (Knight 35, Jones 16) Frustration for Knight as when she does eventually get some strike she drives powerfully but straight to the fielder in the ring. A foot either side and it was four. Claxton has a frugal over spoiled as Knight whips the final ball of the over through midwicket for four. England have faced 43 dot balls in this innings, they’ve struggled turn the strike over and West Indies have been very sharp in the field. 100 up for England but they’ve only for five left to set a demanding total. 14th over: England 92-3 (Knight 29, Jones 15) Amy Jones goes deep in her crease and pulls for four in front of square. Ashmini Munisar responds well with three dots in a row before Jones clips the final ball for a single to keep strike. Only five off the over, Jones might be better placed to work the singles and get a set Heather Knight on strike. 13th over: England 87-3 (Knight 29, Jones 10) Amy Jones hasn’t been seen yet with the bat in this series but she looks to be in fine fettle - driving Afy Fletcher down the ground for four and then pulling a shorter ball away in front of square for the second boundary of the over. Eleven off it for England. They need to haul themselves up to 150-odd here. 12th over: England 76-3 (Knight 28, Jones 0) Ashmini Munisar into the attack and she commits the cardinal sin of overstepping and gifting a free hit with her very first ball. Knight can’t make her pay but picks up two runs with a smear to long on. Clever! A reverse-paddle for Knight sees her pick the gap and pick up a boundary. Seven off the over, England need runs and West Indies sensing wickets, the visitors have kept the shackles on impressively thus far. England’s captain holes out! A slog sweep is well snaffled on the boundary just moments after Heather Knight had played the same shot and dispatched the the ball into the stands for six. Matthews has the last laugh and that’s a big wicket, partnership broken and it brings Amy Jones to the crease. 11th over: England 69-3 (Knight 22, Jones 0) DROP! Hayley Matthews flummoxes Nat Sciver-Brunt with a slower ball and a plinked drive can only be tipped over the imaginary cross bar by Afy Fletcher! 10th over: England 59-2 (Sciver-Brunt 34, Knight 15) A scruffy over from Aaliyah Alleyne as she struggles with her run up and flings down three wides in the over. She eventually gets one right and beats the outside edge of Knight, four singles off the bat make it seven off the over and England are 59-2 at the half-way stage. The home side have got wickets in the bank now and will be looking to accelerate after drinks. West Indies have rung the changes for this match, four switches from the last game as Realeanna Grimmond, Jahzara Claxton, Jannillea Glasgow, Ashmini Munisar come into the side and Stephanie Taylor, Shemaine Campbelle, Cherr-Ann Fraser, Karishma Ramharack miss out. Here’s their team in full: West Indies: 1 Hayley Matthews (c), 2 Qiana Joseph, 3 Zaida James, 4 Realeanna Grimmond, 5 Jahzara Claxton, 6 Shabika Gajnabi, 7 Aaliyah Alleyne, 8 Mandy Mangru (wk), 9 Jannillea Glasgow, 10 Afy Fletcher, 11 Ashmini Munisar Just the one change for England – Sarah Glenn is in for Issy Wong England: 1 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 2 Sophia Dunkley, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), 4 Heather Knight, 5 Amy Jones (wk), 6 Alice Capsey, 7 Emily Arlott, 8 Sarah Glenn, 9 Charlie Dean, 10 Linsey Smith, 11 Lauren Bell 9th over: England 52-2 (Sciver-Brunt 32, Knight 13) England are ticking now, twelve runs coming off Afy Fletcher’s third over as NSB drives down the ground for four and then pounces on a short ball, pulling behind square for a second boundary in the over. Good news on the weather front, the rain is staying away at the moment and some sunshine is even starting to peep out in Essex. 8th over: England 40-2 (Sciver-Brunt 22, Knight 11) Fitter. Happier. More Productive from England, Knight reverse-sweeps with aplomb for four and together with Sciver-Brunt works Hayley Matthews around, pilfering ten runs off the over. 7th over: England 30-2 (Sciver-Brunt 20, Knight 3) Afy Fletcher into the attack and she flights a ball up on middle stump that Sciver-Brunt trots out to and works through mid-wicket for four with Swiss-clock timing. England need some more of that, their run rate is spluttering down at four an over, just one more single off it. 6th over: England 24-2 (Sciver-Brunt 15, Knight 2) England have only managed to score two boundaries in the powerplay, it’s been tough going out in the middle. Jahzara Claxton whizzes through her second over, she’s gone for a miserly couple of runs only. England feeling some scorecard pressure. After five overs, England have somewhat stumbled, losing both openers inside the powerplay. West Indies won the toss and elected to field under leaden skies in Chelmsford. Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge are already back in the shed and former and current captains Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt are currently rebuilding for the home side. Thanks for joining us and apologies for delayed start at this end. ‘Ghosts in the machine…’
Author: James Wallace