2 hours ago
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Key events
3rd over: England 34-1 (Wyatt-Hodge 10, Dunkley 12) Henry’s first ball is another short one and Wyatt Hodge pulls it through midwicket for a punctuating boundary. A wide follows. And another, and another. She nearly gets Wyatt Hodge in exactly the same way as Jones, but the ball bounces short and flies away to the rope. A stylish drive shimmies through the off side from DWH’s bat for three more. Eventually the over comes to an end – 17 from it.
Raf says that the ground is half full – with lots of people probably staying away because of the red extreme heat warning – only to travel if essential.
2nd over: England 17-1 (Wyatt-Hodge 0, Dunkley 8) Hayley Matthews with the second over, but Dunkley is ready for her, sweeping and pulling two boundaries with aplomb.
1st over: England 8-1 (Wyatt-Hodge 0, Dunkley 0) Chinelle Henry falls over in the follow through to her her first ball, Amy Jones tucks into two short offerings served up next, but Henry finds the perfect delivery to finish the over and gets her woman.
WICKET! Jones c Fletcher b Henry 8 (England 8-1)
First strike for West Indies as Jones swings the bat in a pretty arc but outside edges to short third.
No Sciver-Brunt again today, as she continues to recuperate from that left calf strain she retwinged while batting against Ireland. Charlie Dean takes the reins.
“The cake is unbelievably good,” reports Raf. “Huge chocolate brownies, chewy oatmeal cookies and savoury muffins. The press box is heaving with people hiding from the heat!”
The ICC have plumped for full sized flags today, despite the heat – they ditched them at Bristol yesterday. Here are the anthems – the camera pans to a watching Curtly Ambrose during Rally round the West Indies, who looks very cool in a linen shirt.
Do get in touch if your fingers don’t stick to the keyboard. The stands don’t look hugely full but again people may be hiding behind the stands in the shade before the game starts.
West Indies: Hayley Matthews (capt), Deandra Dottin, Shemaine Campbell (wk), Stafanie Taylor, Jahzara Claxton, Chinelle Henry, Jannillea Glasgow, Aaliyah Alleyne, Afy Fletcher, Karishma Ramharack, Ashmini Munisar.
England XI
England XI: Amy Jones (wk), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Heather Knight, Freya Kemp, Dani Gibson, Charlie Dean (capt), Sophie Ecclestone, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell.
Nasser is interesting about the pitch – says the ODI pitches are different to the Test pitches. We will see if the pace and bounce are different.
West Indies win the toss and will bowl
Hayley Matthews said they’ll have a bowl first as the pitch looks fresh – which will suit England’s batters very well. “It’s pretty warm,” she says, “but we all prefer it to be this temperature. “
“We would have been happy to bowl as well,” says Charlie Dean. “It’s obviously an absolute scorcher. …I think captaincy is something you get into the routine of doing and the girls have been very supportive.”
Both sides are unchanged from their last game.
Raf has gone to north London, so we don’t have to.
“It is absolutely sweltering out there,” she says. “Almost cooked on the tube on the way here. West Indies have just done a very complex warm-up with some kind of cone colour-coding system.”
Wherever you are, stay hydrated.
Preamble
Hello from the relative cool of my living room, though my body is slowly congealing into a three day old lasagne. At Lord’s, England, in cooling vests and ice packs, have their toughest test of the tournament on the hottest June day on record. Just as well the World Cup isn’t sponsored by the world’s single largest corporate carbon polluter.
West Indies, like England, have also played three, won three, though at a less impressive run rate. Should be a great match, if you can stand the heat.
