Women’s T20 World Cup: Sophia Dunkley and Sophie Ecclestone help England win against Scotland at Headingley | Cricket news

Stand-in captain Charlie Dean guided England as the hosts continued their unbeaten start to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with a 38-run victory over Scotland at Headingley.

Sophia Dunkley and Sophie Ecclestone played for England and, despite the Scots putting up a fight, the hosts won comfortably.

Dunkley, successor he has returned England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt to the sidehe scored 57 runs off 37 balls to put England on their way to 200.

Scotland got off to an impressive start with Amy Jones catching the first ball of the innings while former England bowler Kirstie Gordon made a vital contribution, but England quickly rallied.

Alice Capsey hit 40, while Freya Kemp (39) and Dani Gibson (30) struck late with 61 off 21 balls to help England score 70 from the last six overs.

The hosts left Ecclestone (2-23) to do damage with the ball as he became the fifth player to get 150 wickets in T20 internationals.

Darcey Carter (29) and Katherine Fraser (23) started well for the Saltiers with Sarah Bryce hitting 34 off 24 but Scotland started to lose wickets in regular time.

Scotland set out to bat, however, it was not enough, despite their high score as they chased down the total as they reached 162-7.

England’s best player in the game Dunkley said Sky Sports: “It was good to get out there. I found it tricky up front, and I thought they bowled well, but it was good to win against England.”

And in Sciver-Brunt’s entry, he added: “It’s tournament cricket. I think all 15 are very important in the World Cup – just try to stay as fit as possible on the sidelines, and that’s what I tried to do.

“It’s nice to come in and contribute, but I think the most important thing is that we get the two points and continue the momentum going into the next game.

“We try to communicate very well, we know each other’s strengths very well. It was amazing to see [Dani Gibson] Gibbo once [Freya] Kemp hit it at the end of our innings, he really got out of the 200 total which was great to see.”

Bangladesh and Australia wins

Bangladesh beat Pakistan by 23 runs in their match at Southampton.

Pakistan were set a total of 124 to win, but fell short of just 100 runs in their 20 overs.

Australia maintained their winning start with a comfortable 98-run victory over the Netherlands at the Hampshire Bowl.

After opening the tournament with wins over South Africa and Bangladesh, six-time champions Australia finished third in Group A in a tournament record.

England T20 Women’s World Cup fixtures/results

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