England Women 150-2 beat West Indies Women 146-7 by eight wickets
Sophia Dunkley led England Women to a winning start under their new coach-captain combination of Charlotte Edwards and Nat Sciver-Brunt, helping her side to an eight-wicket win at Canterbury despite a fine century from Hayley Matthews.
Matthews was awarded Player of the Match for her ton, brought up off the final ball of her team’s innings, taking them to 146-7. The West Indies captain’s innings contributed a staggering 68.49% of her team’s total.
But Dunkley was in no mood to let that be a game-winning effort, compiling a career-best 81 not out as England Women chased down the total for the loss of just two wickets.
Earlier, in the face of Matthews’ sparkling knock, England’s bowlers had all contributed. Warwickshire all-rounder Em Arlott took her maiden international wicket on debut, with Hampshire spinner Linsey Smith probably the stand-out performer with a parsimonious 1-18 from her four overs.
Dunkley, who was ably supported by Heather Knight in a third-wicket partnership of 94, hit the winning runs to take England Women home and put them 1-0 up in the Vitality IT20 series.
Video and audio from Sophia Dunkley’s press conference is available for use here.
Vitality IT20 Series
1st Vitality IT20: 21 May – England Women won by eight wickets
2nd Vitality IT20: 23 May – The 1st Central County Ground, Hove 18:35 BST
3rd Vitality IT20: 26 May – The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford 14:30 BST
Metro Bank ODI Series
1st Metro Bank ODI: 30 May – The County Ground, Derby 13:00 BST
2nd Metro Bank ODI: 4 June – Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester 13:00 BST
3rd Metro Bank ODI: 7 June – Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton 11:00 BST