England women sneak home against WI by one wicket

England lost wickets at regular intervals, chasing 109, and the match saw some nail-biting drama in the late stages before the target set by West Indies was overhauled in the last ball.

When Danielle Wyatt got out, England was six down for 83 in the 15th over.

England defeated West Indies by one wicket in a well-fought women’s World Twenty20 Group B clash at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday evening. Electing to bat after winning the toss, West Indies posted a total of 108 for 4 in its 20 overs. In reply, England lost wickets at regular intervals and the match saw some nail-biting drama in the late stages before the target was overhauled in the last ball.

West Indies was off to a poor start with opener Hayley Matthews dismissed by Katherine Brunt in the second over. Its captain Stafanie Taylor and Shaquana Quintyne put together a 41-run partnership, but accurate bowling by England and some nice work in the field restricted the run rate.

>#ENG Women are smiling after squeezing past >#WI in a >#WT20 thriller in Dharamsala >#EngWvWIW>pic.twitter.com/E0kcdYQJAO

— ICC (@ICC) >March 24, 2016

Taylor, who was the highest scorer for the West Indies with 35 from 47 balls, was dismissed in the 11th over while trying to prop up the scoring rate. But Deandra Dottin and Quintyne scored at a decent clip to take their team past the 100-run mark. Dottin scored 22 off 30 deliveries while Quintyne scored 29 off 28 deliveries.

Anya Shrubsole (1 for 11), Natalie Sciver (1 for 14), Jenny Gunn (1 for 15) and Katherine Brunt (1 for 26) bagged a wicket each for the West Indies.

England had a good start to its chase with Charlotte Edwards (30) and Tammy Beaumont (31) producing an opening partnership of 59 runs in 49 balls. The openers, then, departed in successive overs, which triggered an England collapse of sorts. Sciver, who remained unbeaten on 19 runs off 22 balls, was the only other England batsman who managed to reach double figures as the West Indies bowlers started to dominate.

With England needing eight runs off the last two overs, Dottin put the West Indies ahead with an excellent 19th over in which she bagged two wickets, conceeding just one run. Needing seven runs off the last over, England survived the fall of another wicket to somehow crawl over the line.

Afy Fletcher (3 for 12) and Quintyne (3 for 19) were the most successful among the West Indies bowlers.