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Australia have finally broken their three-tournament long run of losing the first game of the three-match final series at home, but Michael Clarke wasn’t exactly thrilled

Sidharth Monga at the Gabba04-Mar-2012Australia have finally broken their three-tournament long run of losing the first game of the three-match final series at home, but Michael Clarke wasn’t exactly thrilled. Having posted 321, Australia had Sri Lanka at 6 for 144, but in the face of an onslaught from the Sri Lanka lower order the bowling disintegrated, bringing back memories of the heist pulled off by Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga two years ago. Clarke said that his side would have to prove itself better than tonight if it is to stay No. 1 in ODIs and, in the short term, win in Adelaide, where conditions will suit Sri Lanka more.Clarke was pleased with the batting, especially with the way David Warner played through the innings, but the team’s bowling remains a worry. “A lot of work to do with our Powerplay bowling and death bowling, as we have spoken about as a team,” Clarke said. “Hasn’t been good enough throughout the series, and unfortunately it continues to let us down.”Clarke was in no mood to make allowances, even for a wet ball. “You might make an exception, but I won’t make an exception,” he said. “We have got to be better than that. We are the No. 1 one-day team in the world. We have got to execute our skills better than that.”He admitted that the pressure has been getting to his bowlers whenever they have been run close in a chase. “I just think we are not executing our skills to be honest,” Clarke said. “They practise all their different variations in the nets. But under pressure, at the moment, we are not executing. That’s been the difference, I think, between us playing some great cricket throughout this series and playing [only] good enough cricket to win the games. The other area [of concern], like I said, was [the need for] somebody in the top four going on to make a hundred, and fortunately Davey did that for us this afternoon.”Clarke did give Nuwan Kulasekara credit, but made it clear that he wanted more from his bowlers. “Again it’s [about] execution,” Clarke said. “It’s very hard when somebody is playing as well as he [Kulasekara] was, and is hitting the ball as cleanly. If you are just a bit off, you go for a boundary. Credit to him, he batted really well. But we have got to find a way to hit our areas better under pressure.”The tight schedule means Australia don’t get much time to work on what has been missing. They travel to Adelaide and then, within 24 hours, they begin the second final. “We are not going to have much time to train,” Clarke said. “The guys know it. Hopefully tonight will have helped us, hopefully not executing tonight now allows you [the players] to understand that as a team every single one of us needs to be better than that. Generally that’s the biggest part of it: getting your mind to a place where you know you need to be on top of your game the whole way through the 100 overs, against a very good one-day team.”Edited by Nikita Bastian

Brad Haddin has said Australia have mentally recovered from the defeat to New Zealand, and are ready for the Indian challenge

Sidharth Monga at the MCG25-Dec-2011Brad Haddin has said Australia have mentally recovered from the defeat to New Zealand, and are prepared to face India. “I think we’re in a very good space,” he said on the eve of the Boxing Day Test. “We’ve had a week to prepare. We couldn’t be more prepared and more looking forward to the game. Boxing Day is a great occasion to walk out on the MCG. As a sportsman it’s a highlight to come out in front of sometimes 60-70 thousand. We’ve had a very good couple of days at our batting camp and we’re ready for this.”Haddin has had an ordinary year with the bat, with two half-centuries in 14 innings, although both of them set up wins for the side. At the batting camp in the lead-up to the match, he said, he worked more on the mental side of things. “From my point of view it’s not the swinging ball,” he said. “It’s just making sure my mindset is just playing at the tempo I play at, don’t try to take the game forward too quick and just react to the game.”Similarly the three senior batsmen in the line-up, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey, have been under pressure, especially with a total experience of five Tests among the top three. “I think it’s important that we all stand up,” Haddin said. “After our series against New Zealand we are very much looking forward to this. You talk about our inexperienced top three, I think we’ve got a very in-form top three, which is good, and if we’re going to do any good in this series it’s going to be from one to seven with the bat. We’ve all got to perform. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got our game heads on and ready to go.”One of those top three is debutant Ed Cowan, Australia’s 10th new Test cap this year. “He’s very excited like we all are,” Haddin said. “The one thing in Ed’s favour, he’s coming off some very very good form and he is feeling confident. He played the Indians last week. It’s an exciting time to make your Test debut and especially Boxing Day. It’s a massive event and he’ll be up for the challenge. There will obviously be some nervous energy today, tomorrow, but he will deal with that.”Haddin admitted he didn’t know quite what to make of the speculation around the fitness of Indian quicks. “I think they rely on the two big boys quite a lot,” he said. “With the injury cloud I don’t think too much about that with this Indian team. Once they take the field they seem to roll out all right. We know where their strengths are, but we also know there are areas that we can get the game moving forward and develop the game as quick as we like.”Haddin spoke about freeing the mind of too many thoughts now that all the preparation is done and there are fewer than 24 hours to the toss on Boxing Day. He then went off to the Christmas lunch with his team-mates and their families. “It’s an exciting time of the year.”

Gareth Rees scored his first fifty of the season and James Harris took five wickets for 39 runs as Glamorgan moved themselves into a strong position against Gloucestershire at Cardiff

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2011
Scorecard
Gareth Rees scored his first fifty of the season and James Harris took five wickets for 39 runs as Glamorgan moved themselves into a strong position against Gloucestershire at Cardiff. Glamorgan ended the second day of the County Championship Division Two match on 185 for 3 in their second innings – an overall lead of 199 after they had bowled the visitors out for 188 in 89.1 overs.But the Welsh county did not have it completely their own way today, with a frustrating eighth-wicket partnership between Jon Lewis (56) and Vikram Banerjee holding them up. The home side were not helped that left-arm seamer Graham Wagg was off the field after suffering a hamstring injury on the first day.But early on Glamorgan did not require his services as Harris broke through in the sixth full over of the morning to have Will Gidman caught at square leg by Rees. And Adam Shantry claimed his third wicket when he bowled Ian Saxelby as Gloucestershire, who had resumed the day on 76 for 5 – 126 behind, were reduced to 94 for 7.That was effectively 94 for 8 after Chris Dent suffered a double fracture of the finger in the field and was unable to bat. But Lewis and Banerjee frustrated Glamorgan either side of lunch putting on 77 in 39 overs.Lewis brought up his half-century in 94 balls with three fours before Harris struck in the fourth over with the second new ball. Substitute Stewart Walters, on the field for the injured Wagg, took a stunning slip catch swooping to his right at second slip to dismiss Banerjee to give Harris his fourth victim. Harris claimed his fifth wicket when Lewis was the last man out caught behind to finish with impressive figures of 5 for 39 from 25.1 overs.Glamorgan openers Gareth Rees and Alviro Petersen raced to 44 in 10 overs before tea. But although Rees lost his captain, who was trapped leg before by Saxelby, he went on to register a 71-ball half-century with nine fours. After putting on 65 in just 11 overs with fellow left-hander Will Bragg, Rees also went leg before wicket to Will Gidman, who also bowled Michael Powellfour overs later.There were no more scares for Glamorgan, however, as Bragg and Ben Wright hadadded 42 runs for the fourth wicket by the close.

Jamie Cox has cleared the way for a complete overhaul of Australia’s selection panel by standing down and declaring he will not reapply for the role of part-time selector

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Sep-2011Jamie Cox has cleared the way for a complete overhaul of Australia’s selection panel by standing down and declaring he will not reapply for the role of part-time selector. Cox’s decision means that all four of the Australian selectors who picked the side during last summer’s disastrous Ashes campaign have now moved on.The Argus report last month recommended a five-man selection panel with a full-time chairman, a move that ruled Andrew Hilditch out due to his business commitments, while there will also be no place for the national talent manager, Greg Chappell. The fourth selector, David Boon, had already quit during the off-season to become an ICC match referee.Cox spent nearly five years as a selector, but it was far from a successful tenure. He was the selector on duty at The Oval in 2009, when he was responsible for leaving Nathan Hauritz out of the side on a dry pitch that proved to be of great assistance to the spinners; Graeme Swann took eight wickets in the match and England’s victory meant they won the Ashes.Cox also faced criticism over a potential conflict of interest, as he juggled the selection role with his full-time job as South Australia’s director of cricket. By declaring he won’t reapply for one of the two part-time positions on the new selection panel, Cox has ensured Australia can make a clean break from the Hilditch era, although he will stay on until the new panel is appointed.”There is a clear mood for change and I think it’s time for a new panel to be given the opportunity set its own direction without links to the past,” Cox said. “It has been a true privilege to serve Australian cricket in this role since the 2006-07 summer and whilst the transition from our era of dominance has been challenging, I leave the role strong in the belief that we have a terrific group of young men emerging, to lead Australia back up the Test cricket rankings.”Cricket Australia’s new selection panel, which will include the captain and coach, won’t be confirmed until after the appointment of a general manager of team performance, a new role that will be created as a result of the Argus report.

Pakistan have included three uncapped players – top-order batsman Rameez Raja, legspinner Yasir Shah and seamer Aizaz Cheema – in their squad for the tour of Zimbabwe that starts on August 28

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2011Pakistan have rewarded some of their consistent performers in domestic cricket by including three uncapped players – top-order batsman Rameez Raja, legspinner Yasir Shah and seamer Aizaz Cheema – as well as fast bowler Sohail Khan, who has played only one Test, in the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe that starts on August 28. There are also recalls for opening batsman Imran Farhat, who hasn’t played for Pakistan since the one-day series against South Africa in the UAE in October 2010, and left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir, who was last included for the New Zealand tour earlier in the year.The squad seems to be an experimental one, with the bowling attack in particular featuring several new names and missing some of the senior players. Umar Gul, Tanvir Ahmed and Wahab Riaz, who have been Pakistan’s three premier fast bowlers in recent times, have all been rested, with Sohail Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Cheema and Junaid Khan making up the pace attack. There is also a change in the spin department with Abdur Rehman being rested and Yasir being given an opportunity.Pakistan’s chief selector Mohsin Khan explained that the fresh look to the squad was an effort to blood youngsters. “We have to bring in young players along with seniors so that they could be groomed,” he said. “Because it’s a short tour we have selected only one squad for all three formats of the game and have rested Riaz and Gul in a hope to try out some youngsters.”Adnan Akmal has reclaimed the wicketkeeper’s spot in the squad, meaning Mohammad Salman, who failed to impress with the bat in the West Indies and Ireland, makes way. Allrounder Hammad Azam also failed to have an impact on those tours and has been kept in the standbys to make place for Raja. Ahmed Shehzad, who was dropped after the tour of the West Indies, has been left out again.Another development is the inclusion of Shoaib Malik, the former Pakistan captain, in the list of standbys. Malik has been involved in a battle with the PCB, whose integrity committee has not cleared him for selection since the controversial tour of England last year. Mohsin said Malik would only be included if he managed to obtain clearance from the PCB. Meanwhile, legspinner Danish Kaneria, who has taken his fight to get clearance to the Sindh High Court, continues to be ignored.Raja’s call-up comes on the back of consistent domestic performance in all formats. He was the leading run-getter in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One last season, and was top of the run charts again during the recent Faysal Bank Super Eight Twenty20 Cup. His performances in the T20 competition, which included a 97 in the semi-final and a half-century in the final, led to calls for his inclusion in the national side.Sohail Khan, Sohail Tanvir and Cheema were all recently part of an emerging players camp at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, where they received tips from former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz. Sohail Khan and Sohail Tanvir both brought themselves back into the limelight during the Super Eight Twenty20 competition; the former took 14 wickets in Karachi Dolphins’ road to the finals, while the latter captained Rawalpindi Rams to the title. Cheema, 31, earned his call-up through another strong first-class season in which he took 57 wickets in eight games in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.Yasir impressed with his 16 wickets in four games during the Faysal Bank Pentangular Cup at the beginning of this year, and then took 3 for 29 for Pakistan A against Afghanistan in a one-dayer. Farhat also did well in the Pentangular, hitting a century and two fifties, and was leading run-getter in the domestic one-day competition before that.Pakistan squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Rameez Raja junior, Adnan Akmal (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Sohail Tanvir, Sohail Khan, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema.Standbys: Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Khurram Manzoor, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Talha, Hammad Azam, Shoaib Malik (subject to clearance from PCB integrity committee)

Alastair Cook, the England opener, has been named the Test Cricketer of the Year at the ICC Awards ceremony in London

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2011England opener Alastair Cook has been named the Test Cricketer of the Year at the ICC Awards ceremony in London. Cook beat off competition from his team-mates James Anderson and Jonathan Trott, and South Africa allrounder Jacques Kallis.”I think the highlight of year was when we won in Sydney to beat Australia, and Chris Tremlett to take that final wicket, it was truly a great year,” Cook said after receiving the award from ICC Hall of Fame inductee Curtly Ambrose. “This award is about the rest of the team not just me.”During the performance period – from August 11, 2010 to August 3, 2011 – Cook played 12 Tests and in 18 innings he scored 1302 runs at an average of 76.58, including six centuries and four half-centuries. His 235 not out against Australia in Brisbane kick-started England’s first Ashes victory away from home since 1986-87.Cook finished the Ashes with a phenomenal tally of 766 runs, but his best batting effort came against India at Edgbaston, where his monumental 294 helped England seal the series and knock India off the No. 1 Test spot.

Centuries from Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels set up a comfortable win for West Indies

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran07-Jul-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels both made centuries to power West Indies to 315•WICBIt is a rarity these days for West Indies to enter a series as overwhelming favourites but it hasn’t taken them long to show how much of a gulf exists between them and New Zealand. On the same Sabina Park track on which New Zealand stuttered to 190 two days ago, West Indies bludgeoned 315 in the second ODI. It was a more comfortable win than the 55-run margin suggests, and despite BJ Watling’s enterprising innings, New Zealand never really threatened to pull off a win.Contrasting centuries from local heroes Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels kept the Jamaican crowd entertained in the morning, as the innings unfolded with the noisy chorus of vuvuzelas in the background.In the blockbuster , the police chief memorably deadpans, “We are going to need a bigger boat,” on seeing the giant killer shark for the first time. International bowlers will have similar sentiments on seeing Chris Gayle walk out to bat. Once again he made a cricket ground seem tiny as he hit nine sixes in another exhibition of his ability to make power-hitting look effortless.With his father, sister and several other family members watching, Gayle destroyed New Zealand’s listless bowling to reach his 20th ODI hundred, a new West Indian record as he went past the great Brian Lara’s tally. It was also his fifth fifty-plus score in six innings since his international exile ended last month.New Zealand’s bowlers were looking to exploit some of the early morning moisture in the track, but their only success was dismissing Lendl Simmons. He fell for his sixth successive score under 20 after returning to the West Indies side, chasing an away-going delivery from Tim Southee in the fourth over. Any hopes of keeping the batsmen under pressure were swiftly and brutally dashed. In the next over, Gayle launched New Zealand’s bowling spearhead Kyle Mills for three sixes over mid-off.Though he repeatedly dispatched the ball into the stands, Gayle’s innings was not all slam-bang. There was plenty of discretion as he regularly let deliveries go through to the keeper or watchfully defended them. When he did decide to attack, his shots were almost always in the V, unlike the Twenty20-era slogger’s preferred thwack to midwicket.After the early punishment, New Zealand’s quicker bowlers adapted their line to Gayle, targetting the middle and leg stump as they managed to slow him down a touch. Still, there were the gentle offerings of an array of part-time slow bowlers for Gayle to feast on. A murderous straight hit off Daniel Flynn took him to 98, and a tickle down to fine leg for four off Kane Williamson in the 30th over brought up his century. He did a celebratory jig, before sinking to his knees with his hands aloft as the Jamaican crowd cheered their biggest cricketing idol.Gayle had plenty of time to go on past his career-best score of 153, but in the 38th over, one of his shots – finally – didn’t carry past the rope, landing instead in the hands of deep midwicket. That only allowed the other Jamaican batting star, Marlon Samuels, to take centrestage.Unlike Gayle’s boundary-filled innings, Samuels’ knock was more about the singles – taking 51 of them, and even pushing Gayle to come back for several quick twos. Though Samuels didn’t maintain as high a strike-rate as Gayle, he wasn’t too far off a run-a-ball. He reached his half-century off 57 deliveries, though he had hit only a couple of fours and a six.Even when Samuels started finding the boundaries regularly, there was a marked difference to the Gayle style – three consecutive cover-driven fours off Tim Southee in the 39th over were all about timing and placement, and little about power-hitting.Two of West Indies’ middle-order powerhouses, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, failed to make an impact, and New Zealand managed to shackle the scoring as Samuels slowed down in sight of the century. Samuels scored only in singles in the last seven overs of the innings before finally reaching his first ODI hundred since 2006 in the final over. Despite Darren Sammy’s quickfire 31, West Indies gathered only 33 runs in the final five overs, but the total still proved far too much for the inexperienced New Zealand batsmen.The chase got off to a reasonable, though not explosive, start. Rob Nicol fell early after hitting a couple of boundaries, Daniel Flynn played an edgy innings before departing in the 12th over with the score on 62. New Zealand then lost momentum as Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson struggled to pull off the big hits. When Guptill was dismissed midway through the innings, the asking-rate was nearing eight, and the game looked lost.Williamson and Watling tried to revive the innings through a quick 70-run stand, but though both compiled half-centuries, they had too much to do. Williamson was done in by a full swinging ball from Rampaul in the 37th over virtually ending the contest, though Watling improved his highest score in ODIs for the second game in a row and kept fighting till the end.

It is now mathematically impossible for Manchester United to qualify for Champions League football next season and Erik ten Hag has a huge job on his hands this summer in improving the current squad by finding the right solutions.

The club has now entered their longest trophy drought in 40 years to add more salt to the wounds of a very poor and disappointing season at Old Trafford and ruthless decisions must be made by the incoming boss ahead of next season if they have any chance of competing for trophies in the future.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-man-united-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-more-nunez-ten-hag-nkunku-richarlison” title=”Read the latest Man United news!”]

With that being said, it wouldn’t be surprising if no players feel safe and secure in their position in the squad following a string of poor performances of late, taking just one victory and three defeats from their last five games.

One player who has struggled this season is academy graduate Scott McTominay, who has been one of the many players under scrutiny this season.

Former West Ham player Frank McAvennie gave a scathing review of the Scottish midfielder telling Football Insider;

“He’s not good enough for Man United.”

“McTominay is a good player but he just seems to stroll in some games.”

Ten Hag could have an ace up his sleeve if he doesn’t see McTominay as the right fit for his revolution at Old Trafford, as James Garner is shining bright on loan at Nottingham Forest this season and he could save millions by deploying him in Man United’s midfield next season.

The £3.6m-rated gem who was hailed “creative” by Martin Keown and dubbed “special” by Statman Dave, has been proving his worth in the Championship this season with four goals and eight assists in 41 appearances from the centre of the pitch, and it’s not just his goal contributions that have attracted praise.

Garner has won the majority of his duels combined (53%) and has been successful in the majority of his dribbles (58%). He has also created seven big chances whilst making 1.4 interceptions and 1.8 tackles on average per game, proving that he is effective in both offensive and defensive play, offering similar qualities to legendary Man United all-rounder midfielder Michael Carrick.

There is no clarity on the 21-year-old’s future of yet, but following the completion of Forest’s Championship play-off fixtures over the next few weeks, there will surely be a decision made on what next season holds for the young player.

Weakness in defensive play and control of the ball in midfield is no secret at Old Trafford and it is one key area the new manager must solve this summer if they have any chance of improving and allowing Garner to take on that role could be a master-class for Ten Hag in his first season at the club.

AND in other news: Forget McTominay: MUFC must brutally axe “pathetic” dud who 0 duels duels v Brighton

Middlesex ended Sussex’s unbeaten start to the Friends Life t20 with afive-wicket win at Hove

10-Jun-2011
Scorecard
Middlesex ended Sussex’s unbeaten start to the Friends Life t20 with afive-wicket win at Hove. The visitors reached their target of 164 with a ball to spare with ScottNewman’s 39 not out guiding them home.Middlesex began the final over needing eight to win but Rana Naved ran out JohnSimpson off the first ball. His next delivery was a wide and Newman and RyanMcLaren kept their nerve to secure their first win in the South Group.Newman was dropped three times, firstly when Mike Yardy failed to hang on to adiving effort to his right and twice in the same Monty Panesar over by Rana onthe mid-wicket boundary.Middlesex had been put on course by a second-wicket stand of 70 from 47 ballsbetween Australian Chris Rogers and Steven Crook.They came together in the fourth over after Paul Stirling was caught off atop-edge to give left-armer Chris Liddle the first of his two wickets.Rogers and Crook found the gaps expertly to take their side to 101 for 1 whenPanesar dragged Sussex back by taking two wickets in the 12th over. Crook holedout to long off and two balls later Rogers was held by wicketkeeper Andy Hoddfor 46 off 40 balls with five fours.Earlier, Luke Wright scored his second successive half-century as Sussex made163 for eight on a slow pitch that suited bowlers who took pace off the ball.None more so than Panthers’ skipper Neil Dexter who finished withcompetition-best figures of four for 21 from three overs including two wicketsin the final over.Dexter probably felt he owed his side those wickets after badly dropping Wrighton 57 at extra cover off McLaren. He went on to make 71 from 45 balls with sevenfours and two sixes to follow his unbeaten 81 in Sussex’s win over Essex onWednesday.Wright put on 31 for the opening wicket with Chris Nash and then added 47 in 33balls with skipper Yardy for the fourth wicket.Dexter claimed his first wicket when he bowled Yardy as he made room to cut andSussex lost their way when Joe Gatting was run out after failing to beatStirling’s throw from long off and then Yardy was held at long on off the firstball of the 17th over.Rana Naved did smash 19 off seven balls including a straight six over thesight-screen but it did not prove enough.

England continued their impressive preparations for the World Twenty20 with a 28-run victory against West Indies at Old Trafford

Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford10-Sep-2012
ScorecardSarah Taylor scored an entertaining 53•Getty ImagesEngland continued their impressive preparations for the World Twenty20 with a 28-run victory against West Indies at Old Trafford – their 19th unbeaten game in a row – having been lifted to a demanding total by a high class innings from Sarah Taylor who made 53 off 37 balls.It was a fantastic innings by Taylor, who struck seven boundaries, and she judged when to increase the tempo perfectly after West Indies’ spinners had made scoring hard work following a brisk opening stand between Charlotte Edwards and Laura Marsh.””We got off to a great start today,” Taylor said. “I was really pleased to find the boundary early and then ran hard with Arran later on. It was another good team performance with everyone contributing and two outstanding catches from Anya and Susie; we pride ourselves on our fielding. We aim to put a marker out in every single game and we’ll be looking to do that in the remaining three matches of this series.”Taylor’s first boundary was an inside-out drive through cover when she used her feet to the slow left-arm of Shanel Daley who had removed England’s openers. She then later broke a sequence of 27 deliveries without a boundary with back-to-back fours off Shemaine Campbelle. The placement of the shots was what stood out, threading the ball past fielders with precision and Taylor was soon expanding her repertoire further with a scoop over short fine-leg. The men playing afterwards would have to go quite some to match the innings.The main stand of the innings came between Taylor and Arran Brindle as the pair added 78 in 10 overs for the third wicket. Brindle was the quieter partner as Taylor dominated the scoring but used her pace between the wickets to keep the scoreboard ticking and pressurise some poor West Indies fielding.However, after Taylor’s departure West Indies did well to deny England any boundaries in the final four overs of the innings although a total of 150 was always going to be a tough ask for a side held to 71 for 8 in the previous match. While one Taylor shines, it is the absence of another – Stafanie – that is making life tough for the visitors.At least the openers, who had both been dismissed for opening-over ducks at Chester-le-Street, gave the innings some foundation with a stand of 35 and were not far from matching England’s pace. The home side were given plenty of chances to make the first breakthrough, spurning three run-out opportunities, one of which cost five runs, before Taylor again showed her prowess comes with gloves as well as bat with a swift stumping to remove Juliana Nero. That gave Danni Wyatt a wicket with her fourth ball and Wyatt struck again in her next over when Tremayne Smartt picked out long-on.West Indies never threatened to get close to the target, although it was far better performance than the first T20, as England’s bowlers chipped away and the highlights of the remainder of the match were a couple of stunning catches. The first was at mid-off by Anya Shrubsole, diving horizontally at mid-off, to remove the dangerous Deandra Dottin as Brindle began with a maiden in the 12th over. Then, in the closing stages of the innings, Susie Rowe avoided a collision as she ran backwards from midwicket. On this evidence, England remain a class above.