Captain Amy Jones praised England’s confident display with ball and bat in a dominant nine-wicket win over India at Chester-le-Street.
Sarah Glenn took four wickets before opener Sophia Dunkley struck a half-century as England eased to victory in the first game of the Vitality T20 series.
Jones was leading the side after stand-in skipper Nat Sciver withdrew from the camp to focus on her mental health, feeling “emotionally fatigued”, and opted to field in damp conditions after rain had delayed the start.
Leg-spinner Glenn produced a fine display with the ball, claiming four for 23, including the wicket of India captain Harmanpreet Kaur as the visitors were restricted to 132 for seven.
Dunkley survived an early lbw dismissal off a no-ball and was dropped by Shafali Verma in the fifth over, but was soon in the groove as she plundered an unbeaten 61 off 44 balls, including eight boundaries.
Danni Wyatt made 24 before she was stumped by Richa Ghosh and Alice Capsey then helped see England home at 134 for one with seven overs to spare.
“First game of the series it is really important to start confidently and the girls did that, so it was brilliant to see,” Jones said.
“I am very quiet in all aspects of life to be honest. The girls know that it (captaincy) is not necessarily something which comes naturally to me, and the girls all stepped up which made it so much easier.
“Lots of the girls chipped in as we went, Sophie (Ecclestone) is vice-captain for this series and has been brilliant. I just sort of tried to take in the information and to read the game.”
Jones added on Sky Sports: “We thought we kept them to a good score, the pitch was a bit skiddy, so we knew we would have to go out there and play straight and the girls did that brilliantly.
“It was fantastic to see them win so convincingly, and to finish that off so confidently is brilliant for us going forwards.
“It is an unbelievable top three and if they get off to a good start we can just keep coming at teams.”
India captain Kaur was not happy with the conditions.
“We were not able to get as many runs as we were expecting,” she said. “I just felt it was not 100 per cent conditions to play, but still I am happy we put in the effort.
“You need to have team-mates who can play in whatever conditions and I am really happy we put that in.
“The ground was so wet, there were so many chances to get injured and one of our players did, she was our main bowler, so we were one bowler short.
“But I am really happy the way the girls came in and tried to do 100 per cent. We are here to play cricket and I am sure we will bounce back.”
