England Start Their Preparation for the World Cup with a Clean Sweep Against West Indies

The England women's cricket team began their preparations for the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with a clean sweep against West Indies. The new era under head coach Charlotte Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt is off to a strong start, following yet another win against West Indies at home.

It was Heather Knight’s half-century that made the difference and led England to a 17-run victory and a 3-0 series sweep. The former skipper came in to bat with England 2 down for 21 and scored an unbeaten 66 off 47 deliveries to take England’s total to a competitive 144.

England weren’t at their best when they came out to bat, with Danni Wyatt-Hodge getting dismissed for a second consecutive golden duck in the series. Knight batted beautifully despite struggling with a hamstring injury. Captain Sciver-Brunt was England’s second-highest scorer with 37 off 40 deliveries.

West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews has been in tremendous form over the past couple of months and has been the standout performer for her side. She took three wickets with the ball, conceding 32 runs, and then played a brilliant 71-run knock. However, a lack of support from the other end meant West Indies fell 17 runs short of the target.

It was a disappointing performance by the West Indian batting lineup after a promising show with the ball. Aside from the outstanding Matthews, only two batters managed to reach double figures—Realeanna Grimmond with 15 and Shabika Gajnabi with 14. Two of their batters were dismissed for golden ducks, while two others managed just 1 run each.

Next up is the three-match ODI series between the two teams, starting May 30. England will then host India for a white-ball series (five T20Is and three ODIs) as part of their preparation for the Women’s T20 World Cup in the subcontinent.

Speaking about the series against West Indies and India, as well as the T20 World Cup, England’s head coach Charlotte Edwards said,

"I feel these games are really big for us. We've got nine games before the World Cup starts, so a lot of this is about us getting the right balance of the team.”