Nat Sciver-Brunt's England made a statement in Derby by demolishing the West Indies by a whopping 108 runs. The visitors were never in the game, their best moment in the whole game the partnership between their openers. However, England always had control of the game and won it with ease to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
For now, that's all from us. This is Arjun Bhalla signing off on behalf of my colleagues, Akshay Bhide and Yogesh Kumar. Goodbye!!!
Nat Sciver-Brunt (England Women Captain): "It feels great and tired as well. It was our first ODI after a long time. They played really well, set the game brilliantly for us during the 20th to 30th over.
Linsey Smith has been a find for us. She bowls at tight lines and lengths, and does leave the stumps at all.
I think the change in leadership and coaching is something that has brought positive change in our camp.
(On things to work on before the next game) I think we could have fielded a bit better. This outfield made it difficult at times, but we can't dip on our energy and commitment for that."
Hayley Matthews (West Indies Women Captain): "The openers batted really well. They were disciplined with the way they scored runs. They got themselves into a good position to get that total on the board.
We were able to bowl a lot of dot balls throughout the innings. We bowled too many boundary balls at the back end of the innings and they got those away.
(On Qiana Joseph) It was good to see her. She hasn’t had the best of starts to this tour but it was good to see her get going. It’s a big task for us to face the English bowlers upfront.
We can take a lot of positives from this for sure. We got to a good total with young girls in the team. Just keep encouraging and if we can improve in a few areas in our bowling, we will be able to bounce back."
Amy Jones (Player of the Match): "It was nice to get the opportunity to open the batting. I have done it in the past.
Just go out there and set a tone. I have the time to adapt. To bat anywhere for this English team is a privilege.
I thought they bowled pretty well at the top. An odd ball was doing a bit. It was a good wicket to bat on and glad that we did well.
It was a convincing win in the end. To get the win in the first game of the ODI series is a good feeling."
Player of the Match: Amy Jones
Best bowling figures on WODI debut for England: 5/12 (8.4
overs) – Laura Harper vs New Zealand at Nykobing Mors, 1999 5/36 (10 overs) – Linsey Smith vs West Indies in
Derby, 2025 – TODAY* 4/47 (9
overs) – Steph Davies vs Australia in Sydney, 2008
12:09 AM IST, 8:09 PM Local Time | Chasing 346 runs is never easy, and the task becomes doubly tough when the bowling side is England in England. However, the West Indies tried their best but only to lose the game by a massive margin of 108 runs.
The visitors had a brilliant opening partnership between Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph. But as soon as the Windies lost their first wicket, WI’s chances of chasing were out of the window.
Matthews and Joseph shared an opening stand of 91 runs, but the opener went packing on 48, while her opening partner notched up her second ODI fifty (62). After the Windies kept on losing wickets in a streak, Aaliyah Alleyne played a remarkable hand to frustrate the English bowlers, getting 44 runs to her name.
The English used their slower bowlers to cramp up the opposition batters and then got rid of them using their debutant, Linsey Smith, who bagged a fifer. Em Arlott took two wickets, meanwhile, Kate Cross, Lauren Bell and Alice Capsey each scalped a wicket. As a result, the Windies lost the game by a massive margin of 108 runs.
Earlier in the day, just like the visitors, England had a great opening stand. Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones shared 222 runs between them as the two openers scored their individual tons.
England’s skipper also joined the party as she scored a fifty at a brisk rate, while Alice Capsey scored a needed cameo. Eventually, England posted a massive total of 345 for the loss of six wickets.