Key events
Drinks: England on top after fast start
10th over: West Indies 51-4 (Campbelle 20, Gajnabi 11) Time for the raw pace of Issy Wong. It’s so good to see her back in the team, and with a big smile on her face as she celebrates a crowd catch.
Wong, like all the England bowlers tonight, hits a line and length from the start – full and straight in her case. Three from the over, and that’s drinks.
9th over: West Indies 48-4 (Campbelle 19, Gajnabi 9) A fraction of width from Smith is enough for Campbelle to larrup a boundary through the covers. There’s a precautionary run-out check later in the over but Gajnabi was home.
8th over: West Indies 40-4 (Campbelle 13, Gajnabi 7) Nat Sciver-Brunt decides to bowl Arlott straight through. Gajnabi, on the run, flat-bats an emphatic boundary through the covers; Arlott responds with a 68mph bouncer that is called wide on height.
After a quiet end to the over, Arlott finishes with marvellous figures of 4-1-14-3. Well bowled indeed.
Anyone out there? Anyone? Fry?
7th over: West Indies 33-4 (Campbelle 12, Gajnabi 2) Charlie Dean comes on after the Powerplay. Her first over is a quiet one, just three singles from it. West Indies may have to take two of three overs to stabilise the innings.
It’s deceptively sunny at Hove. Plenty of the crowd, not to mention Charlotte Edwards, are shivering under their coats as they watch the action.
6th over: West Indies 30-4 (Campbelle 11, Gajnabi 0) England needed many things after that desperate Ashes defeat. Top of the list was new blood – not just to energise the team but to give hope to everybody in domestic cricket. Arlott earned her call-up with her performances in the One-Day Cup and she’s making the most of her chance. She has figures of 3-1-7-3: brilliant at the best of times, quite outstanding in the Powerplay.
WICKET! West Indies 29-4 (Taylor c Dean b Arlott 0)
Em Arlott is having a night out. She has just taken her third wicket, with the dangerous Stafanie Taylor clattering a drive straight to Charlie Dean in the covers. West Indies are in abundant bother.
5th over: West Indies 29-3 (Campbelle 11, Taylor 0) Three down or not, West Indies will keep coming in the Powerplay. Campbelle slashes Bell deliberately over the cordon for four before nailing a lofted drive over mid-off. Lovely shot.
4th over: West Indies 18-3 (Campbelle 1, Taylor 0) That was the last ball of the over, a memorable one for Em Arlott in only her second game for England. She has figures of 2-0-7-2.
WICKET! West Indies 18-3 (James c Dunkley b Arlott 6)
Em Arlott has two wickets in the over and Sophia Dunkley has taken a blinder! James scuffed Arlott towards midwicket, where Dunkley threw up her left hand to take a brilliant reaction catch. There has been lots of focus on England’s fielding after the Ashes defeat; catches like that will change the narrative very quickly.
WICKET! West Indies 16-2 (Matthews b Arlott 6)
A huge wicket for Em Arlott! Hayley Matthews wafts all around an excellent delivery that nips back to hit leg stump. Matthews had driven the previous ball majestically over extra-cover for four but Arlott kept pitching it up and got her reward.
3rd over: West Indies 12-1 (Matthews 2, James 6) The left-arm spinner Linsey Smith replaces Lauren Bell. She’s straight into her work, troubling James with her accuracy and drift, and again there’s only one run from the over.
2nd over: West Indies 11-1 (Matthews 1, James 6) Charlie Dean took the new ball on Wednesday; tonight it’s Em Arlott. She starts with an impressively tight line to Hayley Matthews, who gets off the mark by cuffing her fifth ball to deep point for a single. That’s the only run from a pretty good over.
1st over: West Indies 10-1 (Matthews 0, James 6) Zaida James slashes her second ball through backward point for four. An eventful first over: two boundaries, one wicket.
WICKET! West Indies 4-1 (Joseph ct and b Bell 4)
Short and sweet from Qiana Joseph. She pulled her second ball fiercely for four, then popped the third straight back to Lauren Bell. It was a good delivery that hit Joseph high on the bat, and Bell reacted smartly in her follow through to take the catch.
The players are ready to go. Lauren Bell has the ball, Qiana Joseph will take first strike.
Team news
England are unchanged. West Indies bring in Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle for Realeanna Grimmond and Janillea Glasgow; that should lighten the batting load on Hayley Matthews.
England Wyatt-Hodge, Dunkley, Sciver-Brunt (c), Knight, Jones (wk), Capsey, Arlott, Wong, Dean, Smith, Bell.
West Indies Joseph, Matthews (c), James, Campbelle, Taylor, Gajnabi, Alleyne, Mangru (wk), Fraser, Fletcher, Ramharack.
England win the toss and bowl
Nat Sciver-Brunt wins another toss and sticks with the tactic that worked so well in Canterbury on Wednesday.
Preamble
Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss Lotte’s first series win as England coach. Two days on from her first game in charge, Charlotte Edwards’ team will clinch the T20 series if they beat West Indies on a beautiful summer’s evening in Hove.
England were comfortable winners in Wednesday’s opening game despite the latest demonstration of Hayley Matthews’ genius. Her unbeaten 100 took West Indies to an adequate score of 146 for 7, but Sophia Dunkley (81*) and Heather Knight (43*) got the job done for England with eight wickets and 21 balls to spare.
Even a rare failure from the captain Nat Sciver-Brunt worked in England’s favour. She was out for a second-ball duck and didn’t bowl, yet they still had more than enough to beat a decent if understrength West Indies. They’ll hope to do the same tonight; if not, the first series decider of the Edwards era will take place at Chelmsford on Monday.
The match starts at 6.35pm.
