England’s grudge match against Scotland at Headingley ended in a convincing win for the World Cup hosts by 38 runs, to ensure they maintained their position atop Group B.
England were without their captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who is missing this match and Wednesday’s game against West Indies after aggravating her existing calf injury. Sciver-Brunt is England’s best batter, and has looked it so far in this World Cup with scores of 46 and 48, so there was some concern as to how the lineup might fare in her absence.
They need not have worried: Sophia Dunkley struck a half-century from the No 3 position, Alice Capsey hit 40, while Freya Kemp and Dani Gibson hammered 59 runs from the final three overs, as England amassed 200 for five.
Scotland have proven themselves a force to be reckoned with so far in this World Cup, running West Indies close at this same ground on Thursday. On that occasion the 21-year-old opener Darcey Carter limped her way to 59, despite a leg injury, but the Scots fell eight runs short of what would have been a famous win.
Here, though – faced with a much higher total and with Ailsa Lister missing through injury – Scotland never threatened a similar upset. Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith took some punishment up top as Scotland raced to 32 from the first three overs, but stand-in skipper Charlie Dean brought herself on to bowl the fourth and took out the stumps of Katherine Fraser.
Sophie Ecclestone then did the same to Kathryn Bryce and Darcey Carter post-powerplay, getting some sharp turn, while Sarah Bryce slapped Lauren Bell over backward point for a six but fell trying to clear midwicket.
England weren’t quite ruthless enough to finish the job, allowing Scotland to make 162 without being bowled out. Nevertheless, by the time the game reached its climax the 11,000-strong Yorkshire crowd were so confident of an England win that the fans on the Western Terrace decided it was time to liven things up by constructing some beer snakes – a true marker of equality with the men’s game.
It was a tad ironic that Dunkley unleashed her cleanest hitting of the summer in a match which, but for Sciver-Brunt’s dodgy calf, she wouldn’t have been playing in. This was Dunkley’s lucky day: catapulted up to No 3, she was dropped three times en route to her half-century - on four, 43 and 45 – although admittedly only the last of the three was a straightforward chance, shelled by Megan McColl at point.
As for the most hotly anticipated encounter of the tournament, former England player Kirstie Gordon versus her old team? Gordon was so champing at the bit to get going that her captain Kathryn Bryce agreed she should open the bowling, despite the fact that she is normally held back until post-powerplay. And the result was a beautiful redemption arc for the left-arm spinner who England discarded as surplus to requirements: running in with tartan on her chest once more, she took a wicket with the very first ball of the match – Amy Jones tonking her straight to cover – and followed it up with another from the first ball after drinks, as Danni Wyatt-Hodge chipped a catch to mid-on.
The rest of Scotland’s fielders leaked boundaries in the deep in any number of comedic ways, but Gordon was so determined to raise her game that she several times pegged it halfway to the leg-side boundary to field off her own bowling, took a catch at short fine leg to see off Heather Knight, and even chipped in with 23 runs from No 8. Despite the final result, the scoreline of this particular battle-within-a-battle is surely Gordon 1, England 0.
