Sciver, Dean and West Indies thrash England

England's win over the West Indies in Antigua was helped by Nat Sciver’s 90 and Charlie Dean’s 4-35.

During that series, England struggled without the experience of Sciver, Knight and Katherine Brunt and while there were moments of promise for the emerging talent, it showed a need for the side to avoid its reliance on the senior players.

Sophia Dunkley was brilliantly caught at deep cover by Shakera Selman, Tammy Beaumont made a start before holing out to mid-off for 33 and skipper Heather Knight struggled to get going, which was to be expected having been sidelined by injury since June.

Sciver, though, appeared re-energised after her break from cricket, batting with confidence and controlled aggression to score all around the ground as she capitalised on some sloppy West Indies fielding.

The all-rounder found valuable support from Wyatt, who was the aggressor in their fifth-wicket stand, maintaining a strike-rate of more than 100 throughout her innings to put the West Indies bowlers under pressure.

West Indies are a team in transition, struggling following the international retirement of all-rounder Deandra Dottin and missing captain Stafanie Taylor through injury. They rely heavily on Matthews with both bat and ball, and that was glaringly evident in the first outing of the series.

There were signs of promise from others, with Chenelle Henry taking 3-59 and Knight and Williams both making eye-catching 30s, but they will collectively have to improve considerably if they are to challenge England.

For Knight's side, though, runs from Sciver and Wyatt feel somewhat expected, such is their consistency. But the bowling was a fine all-round effort, with Kate Cross continuing to grow into her role as leader of the attack with 2-27 from eight overs, and Dean achieving the rare feat of out-bowling Sophie Ecclestone.

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