Women's T20 World Cup 2020: Natalie Sciver, Sophie Ecclestone seal England's berth in the semifinals
Scorecard
England: 143-5 (20 overs)
Natalie Sciver 57(56), Danielle Wyatt 29(27); Shakera Selman 1/23
West Indies: 97 all-out (17.1 overs)
Lee-Ann Kirby 20(15), Britney Cooper 15(16); Sophie Ecclestone 3/7
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England became the third team to qualify for the semifinals of the Women's T20 World Cup after India and South Africa as they beat South Africa by 46 runs, thanks to some brilliant batting by Natalie Sciver and equally good bowling from Sophie Ecclestone.
Chasing 144 runs to win, West Indies were never really in the game as they lost wickets in bunches. The batting failed so badly that the highest score in their innings was 20 from the number 7 batsman Lee-Ann Kirby. Sophie Ecclestone was the pick of the England bowlers who picked up figures of 3/7 as West Indies were bowled out for 97 in the 18th over.
Earlier, England opted to bat first and elected to bat first. However, they got off to a poor start as they lost Tammy Beaumont in the very first over. Opener Danielle Wyatt then strung together a solid 50-run partnership that steadied the ship for England. Although England then kept losing wickets at regular intervals, Sciver kept one end ticking and brought up her half-century. Some late hitting from Amy Jones helped England post a fighting total of 143-5 in their 20 overs.
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Sciver shines again
Natalie Sciver and skipper Heather Knight had scored the bulk of England's runs in the T20 World Cup so far and that seemed the case again when she saw herself at the crease in the very first over. She took her time to get settled in and kept on rotating the strike, forming a good partnership with Danielle Wyatt and then with skipper Heather Knight. She made a patient run-a-ball 57 which included 6 fours and her innings gave England bowlers something to bowl at with a target of 144.
Sophie Ecclestone spins a web
West Indies did not get off to a good start in their chase as England's Sophie Ecclestone bagged the first wicket of the experienced Deandra Dottin as she was stumped off her bowling. Britney Cooper was also stumped off the bowling of Ecclestone as West Indies were pushed further down the hole. No batter tried to put up a fight and Ecclestone ended the West Indies innings by cleaning up Anisa Mohammed and ending up with figures of 3/7.
Natalie Sciver's innings of 57 helped England to post a competitive total which in the end was enough to book their place into the semifinals. She was adjudged the player of the match and these were her thoughts after the game:
It's (batting) coming out nicely, just enjoying my time out there. It was a bit slow, playing across the line wasn't the best idea. We knew we had to run well. Wyatt is a great runner. The game before ours was similar too. We knew we had to bat smart.