West Indies v England: Women’s T20 World Cup – live

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Agree totally – but unfortunately the poorer boards just can’t compete with the big franchises. A more equal sharing out of the pie would help.

The teams stand in line for the anthems. England in red with white lettering, the flags billowing to an operatic version of God Save the King. A rather more jaunty Rally Round the West Indies, as the team stand, arms on each others’ shoulders, in maroon and yellow shirts.

Decent view as the teams tug the final knot on the their trainers.

“You have to bowl Sciver-Brunt in the power play” says Rainford-Brent. She thinks chasing will suit England, but that going out there and being expressive is West Indies best hope. And, my god, it looks hot out there.

Teams: West Indies

West Indies XI: Hayley Matthews (capt), Rashada Williams, Shermaine Campbelle, Stafanie Taylor, Shabika Gajnabi, Chinelle Henry, Chedean Nation, Zaida James, Shamilla Connell, Afy Fletcher, Shakera Selman.

Teams: England

England XI: Danni Wyatt, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight (c), Amy Jones (wk), Katherine Sciver-Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Charlie Dean, Sarah Glenn, Lauren Bell.

Heather Knight, brim of her hat pulled low: “I was going to bat first as well, but looking at the wicket ,I don’t know how its going to play. There’s a super vibe around the girls, we can’t wait to get going – we won’t be underestimating West Indies.

West Indies win the toss and will bat

A wind blows across Hayley Matthews’ and Heather Knights’ shirts as they wait at the toss. It falls in West Indies’ favour, and Matthews plumps to bat – hoping they’ll get the better of the conditions.

Just waiting for the TV coverage to start, but Raf has spotted Heather Knight bowling in the middle, which suggests she might be planning on turning her arm over later. Do drop me a message with your thoughts on the cricket, your parkrun time or any other miscellany.

“It’s VERY hot, (40 degrees)” melts Raf somewhere in a Paarl press box, “and I just caught sight of Jon Lewis in the dugout and he looks like he’s acquired a nifty tan already. Heather Knight said yesterday that he’s been enjoying some golf while in South Africa.”

Here is yesterday’s report from Cape Town:

Our woman on the scene, Raf Nicholson, picked up on a fascinating nuggett from West Indies’ captain Hayley Matthews pre-tournament press conference:

Preamble

Here we go! After yesterday’s surprise whooping of the hosts by Sri Lanka, England and West Indies circle their shoulders and flex their quads for their first match of this women’s T20 World Cup tournament, and the opening game in Group B

In Cape Town, South Africa wilted while trying to chase Sri Lanka’s fairly paltry 129, falling three runs short in front of a record home crowd for a women’s match of 8,402 , but without the talismanic Dane van Niekerk, axed for falling short in a fitness Test.

England and West Indies, meanwhile, meet in Paarl, where England’s confidence is infectious. In the recent white-ball series in the West Indies, England swooped to a 5-0 victory in the T20s, as well as taking the ODI series 3-0. Their focus under new coach Jon Lewis is attack, attack and attack some more – sound familiar? -and they rocked up 246 in a 20-over friendly against South Africa at the start of the week. This is a young side, the guard well and truly changing, with even the evergreen Katherine Sciver-Brunt probably playing in her last World Cup. And England have got their eye on the prize. after shuffling away from the last T20 World Cup when rain washed away their semi-final.

It is a mug’s game to predict a World Cup result, I really should know better, but West Indies’ recent form on and off the pitch suggests an English picnic

The Group B mix also includes India, Pakistan and Ireland, with the top two from each group meeting in the semis – nice and simple. The ones to beat – Australia – play their first game against New Zealand later this afternoon at Boland Park (Group A also includes Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa).