OLD TRAFFORD, England, CMC- West Indies women lost to England by 28 runs in their second of a five match series as part of their preparations for the world Twenty20 in Sri Lanka later this month.
Chasing 151 for victory at Old Trafford, the Caribbean side never mounted a serious threat and were restricted to 122 for six off their allotted overs. They lost their opening game on Saturday at Chester-le-Street by eight wickets.
Captain Merissa Aguilleira again top-scored with 37 while Tremayne Smartt got 25 and Britney Cooper, 20.
Seamer Arran Brindle (2-12) and off-spinners Laura Marsh (2-17) and Danielle Wyatt (2-25), all picked up two wickets apiece.
Earlier, Sarah Taylor top-scored with a breezy 37-ball 53 while Brindle stroked a near run-a-ball 42 to help the hosts up to 150 for three off their 20 overs.
Left-arm seamer Shanel Daley finished with two for 27. Although Daley did well to remove England’s openers, a third wicket stand between Taylor and Brindle put England back in control of the game at Old Trafford.
Taylor and Brindle added 78 in 10 overs for the third wicket and laid the foundation for an unreachable target.
Taylor, who worked the ball around superbly, scored 53 with seven boundaries while Brindle hit one four but needed just 41 balls for her knock.
After Taylor’s departure, West Indies did well to deny England any boundaries in the final four overs of the innings.
However, a total of 150 was always going to be a tough task for a side held to 71 for 8 in the previous match.
Windies opener Tremayne Smartt, who did not wear a helmet, withstood some bouncers from Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole.
However, as in the England innings, spin brought the breakthrough as Juliana Nero was stumped by Taylor aiming a slog-sweep at Danielle Wyatt.
A diving catch by Holly Colvin and an even better one-handed effort by Shrubsole at mid-off removed the dangerous Daley and Deandra Dottin respectively as England took a firm grip on the game
Aguilleira and Cooper briefly threatened but West Indies were always behind the run rate as England took a 2-0 series lead.
Their three-pronged spin attack kept the squeeze on West Indies and, although Aguilleira and Cooper enjoyed an entertaining fifth-wicket stand of 40, they left it too late to threaten the result.
Cooper was well caught by Susie Rowe – running back from mid-wicket and nearly colliding with Brunt, running in from the boundary – the tourists needed 55 from the last 13 balls.
Taylor, named player of the match, then stumped captain Aguilleira in the penultimate over to complete a comfortable England win.
The third game of the five-match series is in Northampton on Thursday.
