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Shabika Gajnabi launches Linsey Smith for SIX and then tickles a single to get Matthews on strike. Matthews sweeps but doesn’t beat the field. Just a single…
16th over: West Indies 101-3 (Matthews 70, Gajnabi 7) Bell re-starts with a dot ball that Matthews lines up a huge swipe at and only connects with fresh air. No problems with the next though – Bell drags down and is upper cut away to the fence for four.
Here come the players! 48 runs needed for West Indies in 26 balls. All eyes on Hayley Matthews, she’s unbeaten on 66.
We’re hearing the re-start will be at 5.45pm, so ten minutes time. No overs have been lost.
Good news! The covers are coming off, the rain has stopped. They should be back out there for an exciting finish quite soon.
Rain stops play – West Indies 97-3
The umpires stay out for as long as they can but the rain gets too persistent, England are nine runs ahead on the DLS. There’ll be a delay whilst we see whether this shower blows over.
15th over: West Indies 96-3 (Matthews 66, Gajnabi 6) Matthews goes in-to-out and up-and-over extra cover for four. A groan from Sarah Glenn as she’s cut for four next ball, fast hands from Matthews. Eleven runs off the over, that works for West Indies.
14th over: West Indies 85-3 (Matthews 57, Gajnabi 2) Linsey Smith hurtles through an over in 1.5 x speed, six runs off it. West Indies need ten an over from here – 60 off six overs.
13th over: West Indies 79-3 (Matthews 55, Gajnabi 0) Danni Wyatt Hodge does well on the rope to slap a Matthews slog back into the field of play and prevent a six. Matthews is ticking now, she spanks Arlott down the ground with some swagger for a one bounce four. Once again she is keeping her side in the contest all by herself.
12th over: West Indies 72-3 (Matthews 48, Gajnabi 0) Hayley Matthews hits Glenn for two boundaries in the over to keep West Indies ticking. A paddle sweep and a swat through mid-on, 73 needed from 48 balls.
WICKET! Realeanna Grimmond c Wyatt b Dean 15 (West Indies 63-3)
Two drops in two balls! Nat Sciver Brunt fluffs a simple skier off Charlie Dean to give Grimmond a life… and then Dean can’t hold on to tough caught and bowled chance. And another! Grimmond gets a tickle and Amy Jones can’t hold on behind the stumps. FINALLY! Grimmond is eventually held by Danni Wyatt-Hodge in the deep. At the fourth time of asking in the over Grimmond is dismissed. Relieved smiles all round but after being praised for their fielding so far in this series that was a harking back to the butterfingered embarrassments of the winter.
11th over: West Indies 63-3 (Matthews 39, Gajnabi 0) Shabika Gajnabi joins her captain in the middle with plenty still to do.
10th over: West Indies 58-2 (Matthews 37, Grimmond 12) Sarah Glenn changes ends, a full bunger is slapped to the fence by Grimmond but Glenn responds well, stitching together four dots to finish the over. Halfway stage – West Indies need 87 from 60 balls.
9th over: West Indies 53-2 (Matthews 36, Grimmond 8) Linsey Smith whirls through a brilliant over for England, landing it on a postage stamp, she goes for just three singles. With the weather around we could have a DLS situation brewing, that could be a crucial over in the grand scheme.
8th over: West Indies 50-2 (Matthews 34, Grimmond 7) Light rain falling again in Chelmsford as Grimmond edges Charlie Dean for four.
7th over: West Indies 42-2 (Matthews 33, Grimmond 0) Matthews picks up two boundaries off Sarah Glenn – a sweep and a cut for four – West Indies’ captain is in serious nick.
6th over: West Indies 34-2 (Matthews 25, Grimmond 0) Realeanna Grimmond joins her captain in the middle. If Matthews stays out there then you’d think West Indies do this at a canter. Powerplay over, England on top.
WICKET! Zaida James c Glenn b Arlott 7 (West Indies 34-2)
Arlott strikes! James clips a ball of her hip and it goes straight to Glenn at short fine leg. A bit of a gift for England.
5th over: West Indies 26-1 (Matthews 18, James 7) Spin from both ends as Linsey Smith is introduced. She rattles through a tidy over, just five runs off it.
4th over: West Indies 22-1 (Matthews 17, James 4) Charlie Dean into the attack, Matthews decides now is the time to open the shoulders, a slog sweep for SIX into the stands after a full toss is driven for four. Game on!
3rd over: West Indies 11-1 (Matthews 7, James 3) Bell is full and getting movement in the air and off the seam. Only four runs off her second over as England keep the pressure on.
2nd over: West Indies 7-1 (Matthews 6, James 0) Em Arlott with the second over – she’s a fraction too short and Matthews flicks through midwicket for four. Arlott is tidy though, four dots in the over and England are on top at the moment. If they get Matthews cheaply then they’ll very much fancy completing a three-nil sweep.
1st over: West Indies 2-1 (Matthews 1, James 0) Zaida James is the new batter and she’s beaten all ends up first ball by Bell! Tammy Beaumont is on the field in place of Heather Knight, we await news on her hamstring injury. Bell is finding some prodigious movement – just two runs and the wicket off the first over.
WICKET! Qiana Joseph b Bell 0 (West Indies 0-1)
Lauren Bell strikes with the first ball of the innings! Full and hooping in, Qiana Joseph plays a loose shot and sees her stumps pegged back. What a start from England under leaden skies!
Good news, the covers are off and here come the players. West Indies can salvage some pride from the series if they chase down 145 runs to win this final T20I.
The covers are now on in Chelmsford as a shower passes over. It’s breezy in Essex so hopefully not too long a delay.
England score 144-5 from 20 overs
Heather Knight limps off the field, unbeaten on 66 but her head is bowed, she knows it won’t be good news and we might not see her back in an England shirt for some time. She couldn’t run in the final over but somehow managed to smear two boundaries off Aaliyah Alleyne to get England up to 144.
Impressive performance from West Indies with the ball today – debutant Jahzara Claxton the pick of the bowlers with impressive figures of 1-15 off her four overs.
19th over: England 132-5 (Knight 55, Arlott 1) Em Arlott replaces Capsey, Heather Knight is in real trouble, you have to feel for her, there’s lots of cricket on the horizon and she might be out for some time on this evidence. Her innings has kept England ticking, one over to go and light rain falling in Chelmsford.
WICKET! Alice Capsey c Grimmond b Claxton 4 (England 130-5)
Capsey cut a frustrated figure in the middle and she hacks Claxton to point to give an easy catch. Heather Knight is in trouble too as she looks to have another hamstring issue… the physio has been out and there’s a lot of grimacing from Knight, she’s had surgery on her hamstrings before and this could be really bad news, she can barely move out there but hasn’t gone off. I’m not sure it is very wise to stay out there and make any potential tear even worse?
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.
WICKET! Amy Jones b Matthews 22 (England 111-4)
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.
WICKET! Nat Sciver-Brunt c Gajnabi b Matthews 37 (England 69-3)
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.
Apologies for the delayed start – England 23-2
James Wallace
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…’
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