T20 Vitality Series

Taylor’s side managed 116 for 6 in their 20 overs chasing an England total of 163 for 8 set by the hosts who took first strike. England’s match-winning total was due largely to the innings of Player of the Match Tammy Beaumont who scored 62 from 49 balls aided by some wayward bowling from the Caribbean women.

Deandra Dottin led the scoring for the West Indies with a 59-ball 69 but no other made double figures as the West Indies struggled to keep pace with the required rate of just over eight runs an over.

Taylor was not happy with the performances.

“It's not one of our best [performances]. We didn't adapt well to the pitch,” she said.

 Tammy batted really well and set the game up nicely for them. Looking back at that, we thought we were always behind and had to gain some momentum going into the batting.”

Taylor conceded that the bowlers and the batters let the team down.

“Some bowlers bowled well in patches but... not the best, really. Deandra batted well, but she needed someone to stay there with her,” said the despondent Windies captain.

“We thought too many dot balls strangled us a bit. We needed to go back to the footage and assess it and see areas we can improve on. We have a training day tomorrow just to fine-tune for Wednesday's game.”

The next match in the five-match series bowls off on Wednesday.

The outstanding allrounder reached the milestone on Wednesday in her 103rd innings during the second T20 International against England at the Incora County Ground in Derby.

She scored 28 and now has 3,020 runs at an average of 36 runs per innings. She is also the leading West Indies woman in One-Day Internationals with 4,724 runs at an average at over 44.

 CWI’s Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams lauded Taylor for her brilliance over a career that started back in 2008 against Ireland in Dublin.

He said the 29-year-old has again etched her name in history’s pages and continues to be a role model and leader in West Indies cricket.

“Congratulations to Stafanie from all at CWI, and indeed the wider Caribbean, on achieving this outstanding milestone in what is truly a remarkable cricket career,” said Adams who was speaking on behalf of CWI.

“She has set the benchmark for women’s cricket and continues to demonstrate why she is rated as one of the greats of the game.

“She continues to be an ambassador for women’s sports and for the game of cricket in the West Indies. Given her youth and undoubted ability, we continue to wish her all the success possible in the years ahead.”

Stafanie Taylor scored her 3000^th run on Wednesday but West Indies Women lost to England by 47 runs at Derby on Wednesday in the second of their five-match T20 Vitality Series.

They also lost the first match on Monday by a similar margin. However, this time the loss unfolded differently.

Chasing 152 for victory, the West Indies Women, with the score at 11, lost Hayley Matthews for three in the third over, caught off a leading edge by Heather Knight from a Katherine Brunt delivery.

However, the West Indies had a glimmer of hope when Deandra Dottin and Stafanie Taylor put together a partnership of 61 in nine overs to have the West Indies well-positioned at 71 for one in the 12^th over.

That was also when things began to unravel for the West Indies as their next seven wickets to 32 runs to close at 104 for eight.

It began with the last ball of the 12^th over when Dottin adjudged leg before wicket for 38 to Sarah Glenn’s quicker and fuller leg-break.

Six balls later, wicketkeeper Amy Jones, stumped Lee-Ann Kirby for one from a Mady Villiers delivery. 75 for three.

Six balls later, Jones was again in action, stumping Captain Stafanie Taylor - who had earlier scored her 3000^th run - for 28 from a Glen delivery wide of the off-stump. 79 for four.

Shermaine Campbelle was the next wicket to fall, for five, after swinging Anya Shrubsole’s delivery to deep square leg where Fran Wilson held onto a running catch. It was then 89 for five.

Six balls later, Chinelle Henry was out lbw to Villiers for seven. 89 for six.

By the time Sophie Ecclestone bowled Britney Cooper for a duck to leave the West Indies were 91 for seven, the Caribbean side had lost six wickets for 19 runs from 33 balls and still needing 61 from the last 16 balls.

Shortly thereafter, Aaliyah Alleyne was trapped lbw by Ecclestone for five at 96 for eight.

It was left to Selman, who remained unbeaten on 6 and Afy Fletcher 4, to get the West Indies past the 100-run mark as the innings came to a close.

Villiers was the pick of the England bowlers taking 2 for 10 from three overs. Ecclestone (2 for 19) and Glenn (2 for 24) did their part to dismantling the West Indies batting line-up.

Earlier, England had smashed 52 runs off their last five overs to wrest control of the match from the West Indies, who had up to then, kept England’s batters reined in.

Having had England at 96 for six in the 15^th over, Sarah Glen and Katherine Brunt attacked the bowling with great success. Together the pair added 46 runs before Selman bowled Brunt for 18 in the final over.

England had already taken full advantage of Shamilia Connell, whose last over, the 19^th, went for 19 runs. Glenn slapped her for four over deep backward point and then followed up with a shot over the covers for three.

Brunt followed suit the next ball that yielded two runs. She then smashed the flustered Connell out to the deep extra cover boundary for four.

By the time Glen was run out for 26 off the last ball of the innings, the damage had already been done with England once again getting beyond 150 runs that once again proved to be more than enough.

It was a welcome fightback from England, who after 15 overs didn’t look likely to score 150.

As they did in the first match on Monday, England had a good start scoring 34 from the first four overs before Selman had Tammy Beaumont caught by Chinelle Henry for 21.

At 44 for one Danni Wyatt was run out for 14.

By then Stafanie Taylor (2 for 12) and Selman (2 for 32) had begun to squeeze the life out of the England batting.

However, Jones who scored 25 from just 20 balls sparked England’s revival that ultimately proved to be too much for the West Indies.

"White-ball cricket, and T20 cricket specifically, is about scoring runs," Coley said. "If you watch the history of our cricket, our bowling department has always held its own, done well and been competitive.

"[But] we'll need to post challenging totals and be able to chase them as well. We need to be clear in our roles for each player, and how we want to go about the batting, and we should be okay."

Coley said he was happy with the fact that during the two intra-squad warm-up matches they played in the past few days, the batters did fairly will Captain Stafanie Taylor and Lee-Ann Kirby being the standouts with scores of 71 and 85, respectively.

"It's very good that in all innings that were played, we batted the full complement of overs," Coley said. "And there were individual performances as well as partnerships throughout. It was good for everyone to have had some time out in the middle in a competitive environment, which we haven't had for a while.

The Barbadian smashed 69 from 59 deliveries but the West Indies were restricted to 116 for 6 chasing 164 for victory. No other batter got into double figures for the West Indies.

Chasing a target 24 runs more than they have ever made in a T20 match in England, the West Indies struggled early against England’s bowlers. Hayley Matthews (3) and Stafanie Taylor (8) went cheaply as Katherine Brunt, who gave up just eight runs from her four overs; Natalie Sciver and Anya Shrubsole aided by pace and swing kept things tight.

Despite Dottin’s best efforts to accelerate the scoring rate by midway the innings, the West Indies needed 12 runs an over. After 11 overs, the West Indies were 49 for 2, and staring defeat in the face needing 115 from just 54 balls.

From there, Dottin went into full attack mode smashing Shrubsole for a six over long-on and four down to backward square. However, she and Lee-Ann Kirby were involved in a comical mix up that resulted in Kirby being run out for 7 to leave the West Indies at 61 for 3.

By the time Sophie Ecclestone bowled Dottin midway the 19^th over, victory was well out of reach.

Eccelstone finished with 2 for 19 while Natalie Sciver ended with 2 for 16.

Earlier, England won the toss and chose to take first strike.

Opener Tammy Beaumont, the Player of the Match, scored a brilliant half-century that helped England to their winning total. Beaumont’s runs came off just 49 balls and included nine fours and a massive straight six as England racked up 163 for 8 from their allotment of 20 overs.

The West Indies Women were guilty of wayward bowling as England raced to 49 for 1 during the Powerplay and at one point looked as if 180 was in the offing.

Heather Knight, who scored 25 from 17 balls and Amy Jones, 24 from 16, helped push the score along helped by undisciplined bowling from Aaliyah Alleyne who gave up 25 runs from her two overs.

However, Shakira Selman 3 for 26, Stafanie Taylor 2 for 34, and Hayley Matthews 2 for 25 helped keep the score in check. Selman and Matthews took crucial wickets near the end as England lost their last five wickets for 31 runs from the final five overs.

However, by then the match was well beyond the West Indies.

The second game of the five-match T20 Vitality Series is to be played on Wednesday.