Regular wickets and lack of significant partnerships keep Windies to 204 before defending champion overhauls the target in just 38.1 overs. Ellyse Perry went for 10 runs in her first over. She had bowled loose and short and Hayley Matthews punished her for it with two fours. Australia Women’s premier all-rounder, though, came back strongly to strike at crucial points in her team’s ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 opener against Windies Women yesterday, to star in a strong bowling effort to keep the opposition to 204.

Beth Mooney and Nicole Bolton, Australia’s left-handed openers, then played a free-flowing game, their 171-run stand for the first wicket making a victory, which seemed the likeliest result at the halfway point, inevitable.

Australia needed 38.1 overs to complete its 8-wicket win at County Ground in Taunton, Bolton guiding the chase with a well-deserved unbeaten century.

Windies, batting first after winning the toss, could never recover from a slow start and grew increasingly dispirited as game progressed. While Matthews looked set, her opening partner, Felicia Walters on ODI debut, and No. 3 Chedean Nation, who only came back to the side last November after seven years on the sidelines, struggled against the spin and pace combination Meg Lanning employed for much of the time.

Windies enjoyed its best period of the game for the brief 4.5 overs in which the fourth-wicket pair of Taylor and Dottin were together. Dottin showed no bias in attacking either the part-time medium pace of Elyse Villani or the established Perry. The Australian, however, backed her strengths to have the dangerous batter bowled the very next ball with a peach that uprooted the off stump, ending her stay on 29.

Today’s Match

England Vs Pakistan

Venue: Grace Road, Leicester, 3 PM

Tomorrow’s Match

South Africa Vs New Zealand

Venue: County Ground, Derby

Yesterday’s Result

West Indies Women 204 all out in 47.5 overs lost to Australia 205 for 2 in 38.1 overs.