2nd over: West Indies 7-0 (Matthews 4, Dottin 2) Matthews is on the charge, drives, cuts, but finds the fielder. Then leans back and pulls Smith, looks every moment a boundary, but there’s a brilliant save by Gibson, diving and palming the ball in mid air to prevent the four before roly-polying over the rope. West Indies already behind the rate.
1st over: West Indies 3-0 (Matthews 1, Dottin 1) Lauren Bell with the first over from the pavilion end. West Indies are eager for runs but they don’t get them – just a couple of singles and a wide as Bell finds her bowling boots.
As the players take to the field for West Indies chase, an email drops from Stephen Nichols. Hello!
“I am at Lord’s for my first ever World Cup match. There are no flags or vuvuzuelas, and the temperature has dipped to “really warm” from “stupidly hot”. I think we are 10 runs short, aren’t we? No sixes, no fireworks from Kemp or Gibson, but perfect placement of 4s from Knight and DWH. I hope our bowlers are on form.”
Fingers crossed you get a thriller.
West Indies need 187 to beat England - 9.35 an over
20th over: England 186-7 ( Dean 9, Ecclestone 4 ) What a cameo from Dean – two reverse-sweeps for four, and Ecclestone does her job too, sweeping her only ball down to the rope. Lovely to see so many women in the Long Room as the players walk through – MCC must have relaxed the dress code – lots of shorts on show and not a jacket or a tie to be seen.
A very good score there by England, and Heather Knight is pretty pleased too, reporting “a pretty decent wicket with tennis bally bounce with the new ball.” Time for me to grab a drink before we follow West Indies in the chase.
WICKET! Gibson c Alleyne b Munisar 2 (England 182-7)
Kemp swings – she has to – but is well caught at point by a leaping Alleyne.
WICKET! Knight run out 43 (England 172-6)
Ever optimistic, Knight starts running blind but Campbelle is just out of her eye line and throws down the stumps, beating a suddenly aware diving Knight.
19th over: England 172-6 ( Gibson 2) Ooooh, lucky Heather Knight gets an outside edge to Alleyne’s first ball, which then parties all the way down to the rope. Another run out chance fluffed by the Windies but Knight is in the zone, lofts four over mid off, until finally her running luck runs out.
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18th over: England 162-5 (Knight 34, Gibson 1) The commentators have spotted that West Indies are behind the clock so they’re not hanging around here. England have slowed down considerably, though Knight picks the boundary just after Kemp’s wicket with a point perfect reverse sweep.
WICKET! Kemp b Matthews 4 (England 156-5)
Looks stylish momentarily as she bends her knees but then tips over and gloves the ball into the stumps
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17th over: England 154-4 (Knight 28, Kemp 3) Fletcher – dink, dink, dink, dink then a sublime reverse-sweep by Knight brings the boundary.
16th over: England 145-5 (Knight 21, Kemp 1) Matthew to make amends. but a big fat pie is whooped by Knight down to the rope – the run out saves the day.
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Wyatt-Hodge run out (Glasgow) 21 (England 144-4)
Knight pings to point and calls for a quick single, DWH is slow to go and running through syrup and ends up nowhere near. West Indies get their run out at last
15th over: England 136-3 (Wyatt-Hodge 65, Knight 15) Here we go for the final third of this innings. Fletcher harries after her own bowling after sending down a very wide wide. A tidy over could have finished with a bang when Matthews at extra cover shells the simplest of chances and gives Knight another life.
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14th over: England 128-3 (Wyatt-Hodge 63, Knight 10) My poor hot dog snaps at a fly with the same finesse as DWH, down on one knee, sweeps Munisar divinely for four. A quick dodgy single, that England escape from, then DWH drives straight, just short of the cavorting fielder. More drinks for everyone with six overs to go.
13th over: England 116-3 (Wyatt-Hodge 52, Knight 9) Alleyne is a bit all over the place here – chucks down a couple of full tosses, but Knight is only able to sweep one of them for four. Up on the England balcony, good to see Charlotte Edwards talking tactics in Charlie Dean’s ear.
Key event
12th over: England 109-3 (Wyatt-Hodge 50, Knight 4) A super fifty off 32 balls from DWH who hasn’t lost any pizazz with motherhood – a gorgeous lofted drive for four off Ramharack, then Capsey reverse sweeps four, before losing her head. Knight is off the mark with a swept four.
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Capsey c Henry b Ramharack 28 (England 104-3)
Capsey shakes her head after charging Ramharack, looking for six and being caught at long on. Just as England were starting to motor.
11th over: England 93-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 45, Capsey 22) The cameras switch to the stands where thousands of hands, fan thousands of six and four cards. The fifty partnership comes up for England. DWH shuffles around her crease to try and get a handle on Fletcher but can’t pierce the field. Seven from the over again and England will be tiring from this running – clever from West Indies.
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1oth over: England 86-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 39, Capsey 21) Time for some leg spin from Ramharack, in mirrored shades and maroon cap. No boundaries but DWH and Capsey are running well in the heat and there’s seven off the over.
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9th over: England 79-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 36, Capsey 17) Another short one, this time from Fletcher, and Capsey tucks in, thanks very much, pulling it for four. England hit powerfully but managing unerringly to pick out the fielders.
8th over: England 69-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 32, Capsey 11) West Indies have successfully slowed England down a little – DW sends Matthews flying over point for one boundary, but then just singles.
7th over: England 61-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 26, Capsey 9) Some Adele blasts over Lord’s as the players finish their drinks. Looks like there is a nice a shady spot or two in the pavilion. Anyway, time for Alleyne who is on. the. money. Just four singles from it..
Hello Tim Sanders!
”I was at the England v Scotland game at Headingley on Saturday evening, and had a fabulous time. Kemp and Gibson’s late-innings acceleration was a thing of wonder. It wasn’t about short boundaries either, there were no concessions on that score. I only wish now that I’d taken a couple of days off work and taken in the other games.
”My only two reservations were the predominance of sponsors’ logos over actual scoreboard information; and the availability of vuvuzelas. I started the game wanting Scotland to do well, but after a few blasts, my eardrums had overruled my heart.
”I trust Lords has stood firm against the advancing tide of barbarism ?”
I hear and see no vuvuzela evil. If you are at Lord’s, and have a vuvuzela, do tell us. And yes I had heard about the scoreboards being sold off to the Corporate sponsor – bit like flogging the family photos – makes it difficult for people to work out what’s actually going on.
6th over: England 57-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 24, Capsey 7) Munisar again, long arms, plaits. A quarter of a chance at point as Wyatt Hodge cuts and watches the ball fly, brushing the finger tips of the leaping Dottin and flying for four to tick over the England fifty. Four more from a DWH outside edge – ten from the over and time for a much-needed hydration break.
5th over: England 47-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 15, Capsey 6) Alleyne’s first over. She surprises DWH with one that cuts in and leaves her jumping, but Capsey finds a boundary off her penultimate ball, slamming a short one through midwicket.
4th over: England 41-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 14, Capsey 1) Dunkley had time just to play one hearty reverse sweep beore Munisar got her number.
WICKET! Dunkley lbw Munisar 14 (England 38-2)
Stoops to sweep , misses, and is hit on her bright red front pad right in front of her stumps. Turns on her heel and walks off, declining DWH’s offer of a review.
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3rd over: England 34-1 (Wyatt-Hodge 10, Dunkley 12) Henry’s first ball is another short one and Wyatt Hodge pulls it through midwicket for a punctuating boundary. A wide follows. And another, and another. She nearly gets Wyatt Hodge in exactly the same way as Jones, but the ball bounces short and flies away to the rope. A stylish drive shimmies through the off side from DWH’s bat for three more. Eventually the over comes to an end – 17 from it.
Raf says that the ground is half full – with lots of people probably staying away because of the red extreme heat warning – only to travel if essential.
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2nd over: England 17-1 (Wyatt-Hodge 0, Dunkley 8) Hayley Matthews with the second over, but Dunkley is ready for her, sweeping and pulling two boundaries with aplomb.
1st over: England 8-1 (Wyatt-Hodge 0, Dunkley 0) Chinelle Henry falls over in the follow through to her her first ball, Amy Jones tucks into two short offerings served up next, but Henry finds the perfect delivery to finish the over and gets her woman.
WICKET! Jones c Fletcher b Henry 8 (England 8-1)
First strike for West Indies as Jones swings the bat in a pretty arc but outside edges to short third.
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No Sciver-Brunt again today, as she continues to recuperate from that left calf strain she retwinged while batting against Ireland. Charlie Dean takes the reins.
“The cake is unbelievably good,” reports Raf. “Huge chocolate brownies, chewy oatmeal cookies and savoury muffins. The press box is heaving with people hiding from the heat!”
The ICC have plumped for full sized flags today, despite the heat – they ditched them at Bristol yesterday. Here are the anthems – the camera pans to a watching Curtly Ambrose during Rally round the West Indies, who looks very cool in a linen shirt.
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Do get in touch if your fingers don’t stick to the keyboard. The stands don’t look hugely full but again people may be hiding behind the stands in the shade before the game starts.
West Indies: Hayley Matthews (capt), Deandra Dottin, Shemaine Campbell (wk), Stafanie Taylor, Jahzara Claxton, Chinelle Henry, Jannillea Glasgow, Aaliyah Alleyne, Afy Fletcher, Karishma Ramharack, Ashmini Munisar.
England XI
England XI: Amy Jones (wk), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Heather Knight, Freya Kemp, Dani Gibson, Charlie Dean (capt), Sophie Ecclestone, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell.
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Nasser is interesting about the pitch – says the ODI pitches are different to the Test pitches. We will see if the pace and bounce are different.
West Indies win the toss and will bowl
Hayley Matthews said they’ll have a bowl first as the pitch looks fresh – which will suit England’s batters very well. “It’s pretty warm,” she says, “but we all prefer it to be this temperature. “
“We would have been happy to bowl as well,” says Charlie Dean. “It’s obviously an absolute scorcher. …I think captaincy is something you get into the routine of doing and the girls have been very supportive.”
Both sides are unchanged from their last game.
Raf has gone to north London, so we don’t have to.
“It is absolutely sweltering out there,” she says. “Almost cooked on the tube on the way here. West Indies have just done a very complex warm-up with some kind of cone colour-coding system.”
Wherever you are, stay hydrated.
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Preamble
Hello from the relative cool of my living room, though my body is slowly congealing into a three day old lasagne. At Lord’s, England, in cooling vests and ice packs, have their toughest test of the tournament on the hottest June day on record. Just as well the World Cup isn’t sponsored by the world’s single largest corporate carbon polluter.
West Indies, like England, have also played three, won three, though at a less impressive run rate. Should be a great match, if you can stand the heat.
