If England are feeling the pressure of being tagged favourites for the women’s World Twenty20 they certainly didn’t show it in their opening match yesterday as they cruised to a crushing ten-wicket win against India.
A blistering opening unbroken partnership between Charlotte Edwards, the captain, and Sarah Taylor, the wicketkeeper, saw them romp home with 26 balls to spare. Smashing 15 boundaries between them, including two powerfully pulled sixes by Edwards, the pair beat their own England opening-partnership record as well as setting a world record.
World champions in the 50-over format, this highly professional and organised England squad are unlikely to get carried away with their triumph. Instead, they intend to continue working hard towards the knockout stage at Trent Bridge next week with Edwards saying: “It will be huge for the women’s game to play alongside the men.”
Having been thumped by eight wickets in the only previous Twenty20 encounter between the sides in 2006, yesterday’s clinical triumph emphasised just how much progress England have made.
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Holly Colvin, the 19-year-old slow left-arm bowler who made her Test debut against Australia aged 15, returned her best figures in this format, taking three for 20 as India limped towards a meagre total of 112 for eight.
Only Mithali Raj, who scored a double hundred in a Test at this ground against England seven years ago, put up any resistance by scoring 29 off 37 balls before becoming frustrated and taking a wild swipe at a straight one from Edwards.
West Indies and South Africa, arguably the two weaker sides in the other group, treated the crowd to an entertaining and exciting opener with West Indies snatching victory in the last over by three runs. Stafanie Taylor, on her 18th birthday, laid the foundations at the top of the order for West Indies with a stylish half-century off 52 balls out of a modest total of 123 for seven.
Slipping to 82 for six after being restricted by two sharp run outs and some excellent catching in the deep, South Africa scrambled to a final tense over needing four to win. But Stacy-Ann King threw down the stumps to dismiss Shabnin Ismail and spark jubilant celebrations from her team-mates.
Next up for England on Sunday are Sri Lanka, a side the home team should have no difficulty in beating while all eyes will be on the eagerly anticipated clash between the big guns in the other group, Australia and New Zealand, today.
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Scoreboard
India
L Kumari b Shaw 4
A Chopra c Edwards b Colvin 17
M Raj b Edwards 29
R Dhar c Edwards b Colvin 5
A Sharma b Marsh 1
P Roy c Marsh b Colvin 8
†S Naik run out 24
H Kaur b Shaw 8
*J Goswami not out 7
R Malhotra not out 1
Extras (lb 5, w 3) 8
Total (8 wkts, 20 overs) 112
G Sultana did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-32, 3-44, 4-45, 5-54, 6-89, 7-102, 8-105.
Bowling: Marsh 4-0-22-1; Brunt 4-1-14-0; Shaw 4-0-28-2; Colvin 4-0-20-3; Edwards 4-0-23-1.
England
†S J Taylor not out 50
*C M Edwards not out 61
Extras (w 2) 2
Total (no wkt, 15.4 overs) 113
S C Taylor, B L Morgan, L S Greenway, J L Gunn, C M G Atkins, N J Shaw, H L Colvin, L A Marsh and K H Brunt did not bat.Bowling: Goswami 3-0-14-0; Dhar 2-0-15-0; A Sharma 2-0-18-0; Sultana 3.4-0-25-0; Roy 2-0-17-0; Malhotra 2-0-18-0; Raj 1-0-6-0.
Umpires: D J Harper and B Doctrove.
Other match: Taunton: West Indies 123-7 (S R Taylor 50); South Africa 120. West Indies won by 3 runs.