Paarl (South Africa) (AFP) - England's batters made light of a potentially challenging target to secure a seven-wicket win against the West Indies in their Women's T20 World Cup match at Boland Park in Paarl on Saturday.
Set to make 136 to win, England raced to victory with 5.3 overs to spare.
Opener Sophia Dunkley set the tone, pounding 34 off 18 balls before Nat Sciver-Brunt (40 not out) and captain Heather Knight (32 not out) completed the win with an unbeaten fourth-wicket partnership of 67 off 43 balls.
"That's exactly what we want to do," said Knight.
"We want to be fearless and take the game on – and entertain as well.
"We want to try to go hard up front and today was a big step to do that in a big tournament."
West Indian fast bowler Chinelle Henry, who took a spectacular return catch off a full-blooded drive to end Dunkley's innings, said she believed the West Indies had improved since being heavily beaten by England in a recent series in the Caribbean.
"Today was about showing up and we did that today," said Henry.
Henry said the West Indian performance, particularly with the bat, gave them hope ahead of their next match, against India in Cape Town on Wednesday.
"If we play our game against India the way we did today we definitely can beat them," she said.
West Indies chose to bat in scorching heat of up to 38 degrees Celsius.They posted 135 for seven with captain Hayley Matthews hitting 42 off 32 balls, including eight fours.
Matthews dominated an opening stand of 47 with fit-again Stafanie Taylor, who made only three.
Shemaine Campbelle also batted brightly in making 34 off 37 as the England bowlers and fielders toiled in the heat.
Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone was England's most successful bowler, taking three for 23, with two of her wickets falling in the penultimate over as batters attempted ambitious strokes.
Brief scores:
West Indies 135-7 in 20 overs (H Matthews 42, S Campbelle 34; S Ecclestone 3-23)
England 138-3 in 14.3 overs (N Sciver-Brunt 40 not out, S Dunkley 34, H Knight 32 not out; C Henry 2-30)
Result: England won by seven wickets
Toss: West Indies
