England beat stubborn Scots to continue perfect World Cup start

When Megan McColl found Amy Jones’s first shot nestling safely into her hands, it must have been tempting for the Scotland fans soaking up the evening sun at Headingley to begin to dream. Leeds might not have offered the same kind of raucous atmosphere as Boston has provided for their compatriots at the football World Cup but a lusty rendition of Flower of Scotland rang out as it had done on the other side of the Atlantic on Friday night. It was at least a significantly cheaper trip for Scottish cricket fans to watch their side play at an international tournament.

By the time Freya Kemp at number 6 and Dani Gibson at number 7 were spanking boundaries around the ground, any hopes for Scotland were firmly extinguished. England finished on 200-5 with the final partnership between Kemp and Gibson being worth 61 from 21 balls.

Even those in the England camp might have felt a tad surprised. There has long been a soft underbelly to this team. A sense that if moments don’t go their way then they would prefer to be sitting in the outfield, knees hunched up around their ears sulking. Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt is one of the few players who can be relied upon to keep her head, but with her unavailable due to a recurrence of a calf injury and England down 0-1, it looked like an obvious scenario where the team would wobble. In Sciver-Brunt’s absence, Sophia Dunkley was left to walk out to the middle at number 3. 

This must have been a tough week for Dunkley, who had been dropped ahead of the tournament in favour of an opening partnership between Jones and Wyatt-Hodge. Given Jones’s rapid dismissal, it was a case of the understudy walking out to play the part she had thought the director had promised. Here was the glimpse of an opportunity to contribute, but given the form that precipitated her withdrawal from England’s starting XI, a low score felt the more expected outcome. That was particularly the case after the first two overs had brought just five runs for Dunkley and Wyatt-Hodge with Priyanaz Chatterji almost taking a fantastic catch to dismiss Dunkley.

But then the runs started to flow. There was a cry in the commentary box from Katherine Sciver-Brunt, who with a T20 World Cup medal to her name knows a thing or two, to come down the wicket. Sciver-Brunt was no wallflower during her time in the England squad when it came to bossing her teammates around and Dunkley, clearly still feeling her ghostly presence, dutifully skipped forward and hit a first boundary of six. It was a surprisingly relaxed reaction to being dropped, a far cry from the hasty shots she has a tendency to make when she is under pressure.

As the scoreboard began to tick over, it may as well have been Scotland putting the numbers up. Catching opportunities were put down but they were broadly forgivable. The fielding however resembled a Chuckle Brothers tribute, complete with a “to me, to you” mix-up on the boundary. Some of the efforts to stop balls going for fours came close to resembling matchfixing. It meant that England’s batters were rarely under any real pressure and with their long tail, they were able to push what looked like it might have been a fairly mediocre score into an impressive one.

It was only the fifth time that 200 has been made in a Women’s T20 World Cup but the third time this tournament, with England exceeding that total in their opener against Sri Lanka and India managing 209 against the Netherlands on Wednesday. With the expansion of this tournament from 10 to 12 teams, it is natural for sides like the Netherlands, playing in their first tournament, to take some time to adjust. But the gap between some of the teams has made the opening week feel a bit too predictable, with Bangladesh’s win over Pakistan the only notable upset despite Ireland running New Zealand incredibly close.

It was a heady start to the run chase from Scotland, enough to once again briefly ignite some optimism. But when Charlie Dean, England’s captain for the day, bowled the dangerous Katherine Fraser who was on 23 from 12 balls, it felt like the gig was up. The run rate had briefly risen above the required run rate before it sank back down again into inevitability. Scotland had after all only once scored 200 in a T20 international before, and it was against France.

England’s jubilant mood was summed up by Lauren Bell who was fielding on the boundary in the tenth over. As Issy Wong walked round to see if she wanted a drink, Bell grinned at her before reaching out to fistbump. It was as relaxed a duo as could be seen in a World Cup match. England’s tougher tests were always going to be towards the end of the group, with a match against the West Indies at Lord’s on Wednesday before they face holders New Zealand at the Oval on Saturday. 

But they have done all that could be asked of them so far. They have an incredibly healthy run rate, have been diligent in the field even when their totals have not necessarily required them to be, and a multitude of players have shown what they can do with bat and ball. It is always hard to judge a team in three matches against weaker opposition. The biggest compliment to England is they have not given up anything to force someone to overthink it. They will head to London feeling confident a semi-final spot is in their grasp.

Photograph by Alex Davidson/ICC via Getty Images