Domination is the only English word that best captures the essence of English encounters with women from the West Indies. English Women and Windies women met each other for a five-match T20 series.
England, however, was not as welcoming host on the ground as they had been away from it. In times like these where pandemic seems to have forced an unprecedented pause on the game, the efforts from both the countries and the boards have to be appreciated. The last installment of five matches took place on 30th September at Derby. The original plan was for 20 over match with stars witnessing the match for skies. Clouds, however, had other plans. A series on English soil and no interference of weather would have felt odd. Nevertheless, the match was shortened to a mere 5 overs or 30 balls each side.
First Innings: West Indies
Windies were batting first and the intent was clear from the word go. Dottin, while opening for Women in Maroon, got two boundaries including a maximum in her innings of seven balls. A seven ball stint in a 30-ball is nothing to complain about. English bowler Davies got rid of Dottin’s opening partner at the first ball. Matthews was caught by Villiers off the first ball she faced and went without troubling the scorers. Stafanie Taylor and Natasha McClean faced 10 balls each and their cameos of 15 and 14 took the batting side to a respectable total of 41. Windies has set a target of 42 for the home side to chase. Freya Davies got a wicket off her only over but was expensive with 11 runs conceded off her six deliveries. Katherine Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone got their share of couple overs each. It would be correct to term their term as economic.
MILESTONE ALERT 🚨
First Woman to hit 100 Sixes in T20I International – She is none other than – Deandra Dottin 🙌🔥 #ENGvWI #ENGWvWIW pic.twitter.com/9Ls6UTVoC0
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 30, 2020
Second Innings: England
English chase was an addition to all the shortenings that had gone through the match. The directions were very clear to England batters and with the result on their side, there isn’t a lot to criticize. English team lost whopping 7 wickets while eventually making it to the total three balls ahead of the prescribed 30 deliveries. The more astonishing fact is that no one in the batting line up could get a double-digit against her name. Heather Knight made 4 off 2 balls including a four. English side had a total of three runouts and Tamsin Beaumont was the highest scorer off all with her 9 runs from 5 balls. Dottin bowled a miser over with just 6 runs given to the batting side. Shakera Selmon gave 20 runs off her 9 legal deliveries. It is important to mention legal as she gifted three no-balls to the chasing side at a crucial stage of the game.
A great game of cricket comes to an end with a nail-biting thriller in the 5th T20I – England win by just 3 Wickets (3 Balls Remaining) #ENGvWI #ENGWvWIW pic.twitter.com/V7P2sSdhlZ
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 30, 2020
England goes home with a clean sweep and the women from Windies will have this series as vital training before they step into the future bilaterals and ICC World Cup next year.
A student who enjoys studying cricket more than anything else, keen to learn the insights of the women’s game.