The 'Edwards and Scive-Brunt era' has started on the right note. England Women registered what is their first win of 2025. They will hope to carry this momentum forward and look to seal the series on Friday, May 23rd when these two teams meet at the Hove for the 2nd T20I. Meanwhile, Hayley Matthews would hope for a bit more support from her mates.
Much like tonight, we will be there to call the action. Our coverage will begin at 10:00PM IST (5:30 PM local time). Do join us then. For now, it is the quartet of Darpan Tikiya, Anirudh Modi, Aditya Aggarwal and Raju Khariya signing off. Keep following Crex for more cricketing action from around the world.
Natalie Sciver-Brunt (England Women captain): "Happy days. I did not have to do anything. The important thing was to take wickets through the innings. Then, the chase was clinical.
(On captaincy) Sometimes I can feel a bit muddled. But today I felt a bit calm. Hayley is obviously a fantastic player. She played really well today. But we were happy to restrict them. At Hove, it will be a new surface, new day. Hopefully we will adapt and do well."
Hayley Matthews (Player of the Match): "A good day for myself but unfortunate not to get the win. We were 15-20 runs short and we could not build partnerships in the middle. It's always difficult to defend 150, we had a couple of early strikes but could not win.
Very happy to get a 100 today and hopefully I can carry this forward in this series. It was always going to be hard to defend such a total, we messed up the execution a bit. It's about starting fresh and coming back with a win. Not too much needs to change, just needs to be executed better.
It's great to have youngsters in these situations, it's a great learning opportunity. We hope to haev a couple of folks back but if not, it'll be another opportunity for the youngsters to learn."
Player of the Match: Hayley Matthews
2:00 AM IST, 9:30 PM local time: England Women win by 8 wickets and lead the series 1-0.
The Charlotte Edwards - Nat Sciver-Brunt chapter has begun on the perfect note. England Women have not only registered their first win of 2025 tonight, but done so in commanding fashion.
The bowling looked like a unit, with each player who was asked to roll her arm over executing the plans well and complimenting the others. Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith might have registered the best figures, but it was debutant Emily Arlott's 1/28 that would have pleased the management the most.
The overall returns might have been even better if not for the Hayley Matthews show. The West Indies skipper notched up her third T20I hundred and single-handedly took the team to a fighting total. Like always, there was an air of authority in the manner she struck the ball and most of her runs came in boundaries.
We all knew that West Indies Women's 146/7 was a bit under par. However, we expected the T20 World Cup semifinalists to battle it out. Alas, it wasn't to be. Sophia Dunkley's effervescence put the visitors behind the 8-ball early and they never really recovered. A small glimmer of hope emerged when Wyatt-Hodge and Sciver-Brunt were dismissed in quick succession. But then, former skipper Heather Knight took over and ensured there were no further hiccups. The way she went about her business gave an impression that she is enjoying the freedom of not having to do the duties of a captain anymore. Her vigor and Dunkley's exuberance helped England achieve the target with plenty of time to spare.
OVER 17
England Women
147/2
Sophia Dunkley
81(56)
Heather Knight
43(27)
Cherry Ann Fraser
0-18(1.3)
16.3 Fraser to S Dunkley
4 FOUR! England Women win by 8 wickets! That's it! Length delivery, across the off stump, cuts it through cover-point to claim victory with a boundary and take a 1-0 lead in this T20I series!
16.2 Fraser to H Knight
1 SCORES ARE LEVEL! Low full toss, on the pads, clips it to deep mid-wicket to pick up a single.