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 here on Thursday evening.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, West Indies posted a total of 108/4 in their 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 were off to a poor start with opener Hayley Matthews dismissed by Katherine Brunt in the second over.
West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor and Shaquana Quintyne put together a 41-run partnership, by accurate bowling by England and some nice work in the field restricted the run rate.
Taylor, who was the highest scorer for the West Indies with 35 runs 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 (1/11), Natalie Sciver (1/14), Jenny Gunn (1/15) and Katherine Brunt (1/26) bagged a wicket each for the West Indies.
England had a good start to their 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 a strong with an excellent 19th over in which she bagged two wickets, conceding 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 (3/12) and Quintyne (3/19) were the most successful among the West Indies bowlers.
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