London, Sep. 22 (IANS): Tammy Beaumont scored a brilliant half century as England Women defeated West Indies Women by 47 runs in the opening T20I of the five-match series at the Derbyshire County Ground.
On Monday evening, Beaumont played a 49-ball 62-run knock, studded with nine 4s and a six as England posted 163/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
Electing to bat, the hosts got off to a strong start before Stafanie Taylor claimed Windies' first wicket in the sixth over of the England innings with the score on 43.
Taylor soon had her second wicket as she scalped Nat Sciver who could score just seven. Heather Knight (25) and Amy Jones (24) helped Beaumont to push the innings to take the hosts to 136/3 before the opener fell in the 16th over.
That wicket prompted a fightback from West Indies' bowlers as they claimed a wicket in each of the last five overs to restrict England to 163/8. Shakera Selman finished with impressive figures of 3/26 from her four overs.
The visitors didn't have a great start to their chase as they lost Hayley Matthews (3) in the third over of their innings. While Deandra Dottin (69) held firm, despite struggling to display her usual clean hitting early on, she couldn't find much support from the rest of the batters. In fact, she was the only West Indies batter to reach double-figures and accounted for more than half the team total.
Dottin played a number of other stunning shots during her 59-ball knock, before she tried to force a ball from Sophie Ecclestone through the off side and was bowled in the penultimate over. West Indies ultimately ended their full quota of 20 overs at 116/6, losing the match by 47 runs.
The two teams will now face each other in the second T20I at the same venue on Wednesday.
Brief scores: England 163/8 (Tammy Beaumont 62; Shakera Selman 3/26) beat West Indies 116/6 (Deandra Dottin 69; Natalie Sciver 2/16) by 47 runs.