Stand-in skipper Charlie Dean guided England to a 38-run victory over Scotland at Headingley as the hosts continued their unbeaten start to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Sophia Dunkley and Sophie Ecclestone starred and, despite the Scots putting up a fight, England sealed a comfortable win to close in on the semi-finals.
Dunkley was dropped on six, 43 and 45 as she amassed 57 off 37 balls in her first appearance of the tournament after replacing England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who has reinjured her left calf and will also miss Wednesday’s game against West Indies at Lord’s.
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Sophie Ecclestone becomes the fifth bowler to claim 150 wickets in T20Is
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Amy Jones is caught out first ball in England’s Women’s T20 World Cup clash against Scotland
Dunkley’s innings set England on their way to an impressive score of 200-5 after being put in to bat.
Scotland made a spectacular start to the match with Amy Jones caught off the first ball of the innings as ex-England spinner Kirstie Gordon made her mark, but England regrouped quickly.
Alice Capsey smacked 40, while Freya Kemp (39) and Dani Gibson (30) launched some incredible late power-hitting with 61 runs off 21 balls to aid England to score 70 runs in the last six overs.
The hosts left Ecclestone (2-23) to do the damage with the ball as she became the fifth bowler to claim 150 wickets in T20 internationals.
Darcey Carter (29) and Katherine Fraser (23) made a solid start for Scotland with Sarah Bryce hitting 34 off 24.
They put on a determined showing with the bat, albeit, it was not enough, despite their highest score in chase of a total as they reached 162-7.
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Scotland finally put an end to Sophia Dunkley’s spectacular innings
England’s player of the match Dunkley told Sky Sports: “It was great to get out there. Found it quite tricky up front, and I thought they bowled pretty well, but it was great to get the win for England.”
And on coming in for Sciver-Brunt, she added: “It’s tournament cricket. I think all 15 are so important in a World Cup – you just try and stay as ready as you can on the sidelines, and that’s what I tried to do.
“Nice to fit in and contribute, but I think the most important thing is that we got the two points and keep the momentum going into the next game.
“We are trying to communicate really well, we know each other’s strengths so well. It was amazing to see [Dani Gibson] Gibbo and [Freya] Kemp whacking it at the end of our innings, really getting out to that 200 total which is really great to see.”
Dean content after taking over captaincy
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Charlie Dean shared the importance of batters getting up to ‘big totals’
England stand-in captain Dean said: “We could have been more clinical with the ball, but to get up to a score like that put us in a fantastic position.
“I thought Scotland came out swinging. They played really well on a really good pitch, but to get the win – that’s what we wanted to achieve.”
On the captaincy, she said: “I enjoyed it actually. Having that bigger total to try and defend – the girls were really good, but I wanted to bowl a bit better if I’m honest.
“Captaining and focusing on my own bowling when I get to is a skill – but it went well.”
And on reaching 200, Dean added: “It’s massive for our batters to get up to those totals. Scores are getting bigger and bigger – learning how to chase those high totals and also set them was brilliant.
“It was a great pitch here at Headingley, so to get to those totals and for the girls to do a lot of work at the back end was really pleasing.”
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Dean claimed her side’s first wicket against Scotland
Wins for Bangladesh and Australia
Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by 23 runs in their game in Southampton.
Pakistan were set a total of 124 for victory, but fell short at only 100 runs from their 20 overs.
Australia maintained their winning start with a comfortable 98-run win over Netherlands at the Hampshire Bowl.
After opening the tournament with wins over South Africa and Bangladesh, six-time champions Australia made it three from three in Group A with a record-equalling tournament total.
England’s Women’s T20 World Cup fixtures/results
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