The home side, England, sealed a thrashing 9-wicket win in the 2nd T20I to seal the three-match T20I series, with a game to go. Emily Arlott was awarded the Player of the Match for her sensational match-winning spell (4-1-14-3) in the 2nd game of the series.
Both sides made changes to their starting 11 for the 3rd T20I, with leg-spinner Sarah Glenn replacing Issy Wong for England. The visitors, West Indies, made as many as four changes to their side with Realeanna Grimmond, Jahzara Claxton, Jannillea Glasgow, and Ashmini Munisar replacing Stephanie Taylor, Shemaine Campbelle, Cherry-Ann Fraser, and Karishma Ramharack in the side for the 3rd and final game of the T20I series.
Spinners led the charge to stifle England to a modest total
Zaida James got the visitors off to a dream start, sending Danielle Wyatt-Hodge back to the pavilion for a golden duck on the first ball of the innings, after skipper Hayley Matthews won the toss and opted to field first at the County Ground, Chelmsford. Skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt joined Sophia Dunkley at the crease, and the duo led some sort of a recovery with a crucial 21-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Skipper Hayley Matthews picked up the wicket of Sophia Dunkley to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side in the 5th over of the innings.
Heather Knight joined skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt at the crease, and the pair brought the home side back into the contest with a crucial 48-run partnership for the 3rd wicket. Skipper Hayley Matthews returned and got the big scalp of her opposition number, Nat Sciver-Brunt (37 off 40 balls) in the 11th over of the innings to provide the 3rd breakthrough for the West Indies.
Wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones joined Heather Knight at the crease, and the duo took them past the 100-run mark with another solid 42-run partnership for the 4th wicket. The West Indian skipper returned and cleaned up the wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones (22 off 17 balls) in the 17th over, bagging her 3rd scalp of her spell. Former skipper Heather Knight braved her way through a hamstring injury to complete an unbeaten half-century (66* off 47 balls), as England finished on 144/5 in their quota of 20 overs.
West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews (4-0-32-3) and the 19-year-old debutant Jahzara Claxton (4-0-15-1) were the standout performers with the ball for the West Indies. Zaida James (2-0-4-1) and Ashmini Munisar (3-0-21-0) played their part with the ball for their side.
Hayley Matthews leads the way with a fifty, again in a losing cause
Chasing a target of 145, the visitors got off to a similar start, as they lost the wicket of their opening batter Qiana Joseph for a golden duck on the first ball of the run chase, with Lauren Bell providing the first breakthrough for England. Zaida James joined skipper Hayley Matthews at the crease, and the duo led a decent recovery with a much-needed 34-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Emily Arlott broke the stand, sending Zaida James back to the pavilion on the penultimate ball of the powerplay to provide the 2nd breakthrough for the home side.
Realeanna Grimmond joined skipper Hayley Matthews at the crease, and the pair stitched another crucial 29-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take them past the 50-run mark. Charlie Dean picked up the wicket of Realeanna Grimmond (15 off 16 balls) in the 11th over of the innings to provide the 3rd breakthrough for England.
Shabika Gajnabi joined opening batter Hayley Matthews at the crease, and the duo kept the run-chase alive with a much-needed 46-run partnership for the 4th wicket, taking them past the 100-run mark. A double strike from Linsey Smith on successive deliveries in the final over of her spell pushed the visitors further on the back foot, reducing them to 109/5 in the 17th over of the run chase.
Lauren Bell delivered the final nail in the coffin for the visitors, sending their skipper Hayley Matthews (71 off 54 balls) back to the pavilion in the 18th over of the run chase to provide the 6th breakthrough for the home side. She completed a brisk half-century before getting dismissed. West Indies were eventually restricted to 127/8 in their quota of 20 overs, falling 17 runs short of the target. Shabika Gajnabi (14 off 14 balls) was the only other batter to enter the double digits with the bat for the West Indies.
Lauren Bell (4-0-11-2) was exceptional with the ball for England, while Linsey Smith (4-0-25-2), Emily Arlott (4-0-26-2), and Charlie Dean (4-0-31-2) also picked up a couple of wickets each for their side, playing a crucial role as England inflicted a dominating whitewash (3-0) in the T20I series.
The West Indian skipper Hayley Matthews was awarded the Player of the Match for her outstanding all-round performance, 4-0-32-3 with the ball and 71 off 54 balls with the bat for her side, however, it wasn’t enough to get her side over the line and avoid a whitewash in the T20I series.
She was also awarded the Player of the Series for her spectacular all-round performances throughout the series. She ended as the leading run-scorer with 177 runs at a strike rate of 137.20 and a mind-blowing average of 88.50 in three innings, including one half-century and one century with the bat to her name. She also picked up three wickets in three innings with the ball for her side in the T20I series.
