PAARL: England’s batters made light of a potentially challenging target to secure a seven-wicket win against the West Indies in their Women’s T20 World Cup match here at Boland Park on Saturday.

Set to make 136 to win, England raced to victory with 5.3 overs to spare.

Opener Sophia Dunkley set the tone, pounding 34 off 18 balls before Nat Sciver-Brunt (40 not out) and captain Heather Knight (32 not out) completed the win with an unbeaten fourth-wicket partnership of 67 off 43 balls.

West Indies chose to bat in scorching heat of up to 38 degrees Celsius.

They posted 135 for seven with captain Hayley Matthews hitting 42 off 32 balls, including eight fours.

Matthews dominated an opening stand of 47 with fit-again Stafanie Taylor, who made only three.

Shemaine Campbelle also batted brightly in making 34 off 37 as the England bowlers and fielders toiled in the heat.

Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone was England’s most successful bowler, taking three for 23, with two of her wickets falling in the penultimate over as batters attempted ambitious strokes.

SRI LANKA SINK SA IN OPENER

On Friday, Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu made a classy half-century to lead her team to an upset three-run win against hosts South Africa in the opening match of the global event at Newlands in Cape Town.

Athapaththu’s 68 off 50 balls enabled Sri Lanka to make 129 for four after they were sent in to bat by the hosts.

Sri Lanka restricted South Africa to 126 for nine with accurate slow bowling backed by good fielding.

Left-arm spin bowler Inoka Ranaweera took three key wickets and conceded only 18 runs, while fellow left-armer Sugandika Kumari and off-spinner Oshadhi Ranasinghe took two wickets apiece as South Africa were unable to put together any substantial partnerships. Captain Sune Luus was the top-scorer with 28.

The left-handed Athapaththu hit 12 fours and shared a second-wicket partnership of 86 with 17-year-old Vishmi Gunarathne, who made 35.

Both batters fell to good fielding off successive balls in the 18th over, preventing a late burst of scoring.

Summarised scores:

WEST INDIES 135-7 in 20 overs (H. Matthews 42, S. Campbelle 34; S. Ecclestone 3-23); ENGLAND 138-3 in 14.3 overs (N. Sciver-Brunt 40 not out, S. Dunkley 34, H. Knight 32 not out; C. Henry 2-30).

SRI LANKA 129-4 in 20 overs (C. Athapaththu 68, V Gunarathne 35); SOUTH AFRICA 126-9 in 20 overs (S. Kumari 2-28, O. Ranasinghe 2-20, I. Ranaweera 3-18)

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2023