West Indies knock England out of Women’s T20 World Cup to reach semis – as it happened

Aha, Raf Nicholson’s match report is with us:

Which means we’re done here. Thanks all for your company; peace out.

And just live for your delectation:

From earlier:

England, then go out of the competition on net run-rate: they, West Indies and South Africa finish on six points, so 1.091 v 1.536 v 1.382 respectively is what makes the difference.

Matthews reckons her team will have surprised a few people, praising Joseph’s batting in particular. But they’ve not won anything yet, so they’ll take tomorrow off then get ready for the semi.

She says her team can improve in the field but produced a near-perfect performance – her side have been running into form over the last few matches – and she got exactly what she wanted on the occasion of her 100th T20i.

Knight is frustrated but congratulates West Indies who played well. She thinks England’s total wasn’t far off, but they bowled a little short and agaon, she credits her opponents. She’s not too badly hurt, at least, but she’ll be hurting something fierce.

Aside from Knight’s injury, England will also wonder how things might’ve gone had Dunkley caught Joseph in the second over. But West Indies were better in every aspect, so we can’t identify one or two things as crucial.

Our semi-finals

Qiana Joseph is given player of the match and, having promised a dance, she gives us one, slapping thighs and turning. Her captain told her to “bat herself” – good advice, for all of us all of the time in any situation – and didn’t she just. She backed herself, made sure to hit the ball, and feels really happy, so thanks Jesus and her teammates for supporting her. She can bat a lot better than this too, I daresay.

They celebrate properly too, screaming, bouncing and hugging, while Heather Knight wipes tears from her eyes. She’ll be so disappointed she got hurt – I can’t say that was the turning point because of how well West Indies played, but had she stayed out there, things might’ve gone very differently.

We said when the teams came out that West Indies looked ready, and goodness me, weren’t they just?! They bowled well, fielded superbly with Dottin’s contribution – three catches and a run out, which sounds like Jerome K Jerome’s next novel – and batted like lunatics.

West Indies beat England by six wickets and move on to the WT20 World Cup semi-finals! England are out!

WICKET! Dottin b Ecclestone 27 (West Indies 136-4)

WICKET! Campbelle run out (Capsey/Jones) 3 (West indies 136-3)

17th over: West Indies 136-2 (Campbelle 5, Dottin 27) Target 142 Sciver-Brunt restores herself to the attack, for all the good it does her team. Her first three balls yield a one, a two, a wide and a three, the rate taken care of by the halfway stage of the over, and when Campbelle hammers back to the bowler, the ball ricochets to the unfortunate Bouchier, the cosmos victimising her for its evil pleasure, she misses with her shy. Gosh, she’s had a day. Next delivery, just six required to win, now Dottin wants a quickie, and this time the throw, from Capsey, is good, Jones breaks the stumps, and I think that’s out – for all the difference it makes. We go upstairs…

16th over: West Indies 128-2 (Campbelle 3, Dottin 22) Target 142 Dean replaces Glenn and begins with two dots, amping up the pressure just a tad. So Dottin, champion that she is, moves back and across, helping a full-toss for four through square-leg, before going down on one knee to shovel six over midwicket! What a match she’s having, this intervention probably ending England’s hopes … AND SHE’S STOMPED THEM INTO THE GROUND NOW! Oh my days what a shot this is! She gets down low to get under the ball, she’s falling, leaning bac and almost horizontal b the time she astonishes six over midwicket! Sixteen off the over, 14 from 24 to win! This has been a ferocious assault from West Indies, their calculated power, aggression and bravery far too much for England.

15th over: West Indies 112-2 (Campbelle 3, Dottin 6) Target 142 Bell returns with two new batters at which to go, and could really do with shifting at least one of these two – though a maiden would also be handy. The first two balls yield singles, but there’s a sense things are getting a little frenetic, Campbelle demanding a quick single that isn’t there … but Bouchier misses with her shy. I fear a long night of the soul awaits her; I hope her mates are there to keep her company. Two singles follow, and we see images of the Saffers celebrating their progression before a dot means four from the over. West Indies 30 from 30 to reach the semis.

14th over: West Indies 108-2 (Campbelle 1, Dottin 4) Target 142 Something we know for sure: Dottin won’t be cowed by this situation and after two balls to acclimatise, she slams four over extra, the only runs off the over. West Indies require 34 runs from 36 balls.

WICKET! Matthews c Gibson b Glenn 50 (West Indies 104-2)

13th over: West Indies 104-1 (Matthews 50, Campbelle 1) Target 142 Glenn returns to the attack…

13th over: West Indies 104-1 (Matthews 50, Campbelle 1) Target 142 Campbelle gets off the mark immediately then Matthews opens the face, earns one to fine leg, and that’s her 50! Well batted Skip! West Indies need 38 runs from 42 balls.

WICKET! Joseph c Wyatt b Sciver-Brunt 52 (West Indies 102-1)

13th over: West Indies 102-0 (Matthews 49, Joseph 52) Target 142 Oh Maia. Oh mate. This is hard to watch now. Sciver-brunt back into the attack and Joseph goes hard again, Bouchier is on the long off fence, the ball’s face-height, arriving nicely … and she grasses her third chance, hiding face, twisting lips – all the stuff we’ve all done when experiencing shame, horror and fury. Sport is hard.

12th over: West Indies 102-0 (Matthews 49, Joseph 52) Target 142 Matthews takes a lie-down, struggling with cramp, for all it matters; when Ecclestone returns to the attack, she bunts down the ground for one. Joseph then forces to long on – not what she intended, but her power means that she can get the ball away even when the connection is poor, and they run one more. Then Matthews checks a shot, allowing ball to hit bat, and when it loops up … it once more drops short. Two singles complete the over and West Indies need 40 runs from 48 balls.

11th over: West Indies 98-0 (Matthews 47, Joseph 50) Target 142 Towards the end of the England innings, Dan Norcross speculated that they had either 40 runs too many or 40 runs too few, the inference that West Indies would either bat well and win well or bad badly and lose badly, rather than make the match close. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing: rather than allow England spinners to bowl, they’ve gone for them immediately and, as I speak, Matthews retreats in her crease and drills Glenn’s second ball through point for four! A two and a one follow, then Matthews knocks over cover for another single which allows Joseph, 49 not out, to raise a brilliant, brave 50, her first for West Indies in T20 internationals; they call that timing. We said earlier that often in these situations, it’s someone you don’t expect who settles things rather than a superstar; what we’re seeing here is both, and it’s expletive magniiiificent.

10th over: West Indies 89-0 (Matthews 39, Joseph 49) Target 142 Dean returns, and after a dot she directs one at Joseph’s feet, only for another free swing to send it towards Bouchier on the midwicket fence … and again she can’t hold on. This was a much harder catch than the one she dropped earlier, the ball hit higher and harder, but she won’t feel any better about having tipped it over the bar and over the rope for six; she’s having an absolute mare, I’m afraid, and it’ll take a while for her to get over this. A single follows from the final ball, and at the halfway stage, West Indies need 53 runs from 60 balls. This feels five to over.

9th over: West Indies 81-0 (Matthews 38, Joseph 42) Target 142 England go to Bell again, so Joseph throws hands at her opening delivery, directed into the pads; she again slices, the ball dropping short of deep backward square. Her hitting hasn’t often been clean, but the sheer gusto of it is overriding her technical missteps and it’s fantastic to behold. A leg-side wide follows – that is pressure – but Bell responds well enough, ceding two singles from the remaining four deliveries of the over.

8th over: West Indies 77-0 (Matthews 37, Joseph 40) Target 142 Sarah Glenn into the attack, and I guess if England can manage a few well below the required rate – hard when it’s 5.60 – the pressure might mount. Two singles come from her first two balls, then Joseph misses with an almighty hoik across the line. No matter: she goes again next ball and this time gets enough of it, Bouchier running around the fence and diving to catch, only to see the ball disappear through her hands. This is, I’m afraid, a devastatingly poor performance from England – but biggup West Indies, who’ve put the pressure on from ball one of the match, before attacking like mad from the start of their own innings.

7th over: West Indies 70-0 (Matthews 36, Joseph 34) Target 142 West Indies now need 75 runs from 84 balls, and it’s almost impossible to see how they lose this; they’ve enough runs such that 20 overs of batting will surely see them home, and it seems extremely unlikely that England bowl them out inside 14. But this is a better over from Ecclestone – the best in the world saw her first disappear for eight – ceding just three singles.

6th over: West Indies 67-0 (Matthews 35, Joseph 32) Target 142 Dean returns, and how England must be rueing the injury to their captain. With Knight at the crease alongside Sciver-Brunt, England would surely have posted a higher total, but that cannot excuse how some of their wickets were given away, nor the poverty of their bowling. And, as I type, Matthew pounces on a drag-down, larruping four over square-leg then, offering another short one, she goes back and mass-murders four more over mid-off and ends the powerplay with a third four of the over hoisted off the pads and over square-leg. This is devastating behaviour from West Indies, England’s bowling handled with minimum fuss and maximum prejudice!

5th over: West Indies 55-0 (Matthews 23, Joseph 32) Target 142 Sciver-Brunt restores herself to the attack and though her first ball only yields one, Matthews nudging to midwicket for a single, her second, far too wide, is launched over the off-side by Joseph for four more! AND GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME! When she unloads the suitcase yet again, she sends one high into the air … and when it comes down three weeks later, poor Capsey drops a dolly! Surely this is West Indies’ day! England are wilting, and following a single, Matthews gets back in on the act, another short one eased for four to fine leg! This is an absolute kicking … so far. Can England find something?

4th over: West Indies 44-0 (Matthews 17, Joseph 27) Target 142 Yup, it’s Ecclestone, and Joseph, who’s having a right touch today, top-edges a sweep, the ball again dropping short – this time of Bell at fine leg. And what on earth! We said one day-out could settle this, and Joseph might just be the one to have it! First, she slaps through square leg for four, then massacres over it for four more! There’s not that much finesse about her batting, but her eye is a very serious thing and when to that you add her power, you understand why she’s threatening to take this match away from England. No more runs come from the over, but with two boundaries from its first three balls, it barely matters.

3rd over: West Indies 36-0 (Matthews 17, Joseph 19) Target 142 Sciver-Brunt has seen enough, introducing the off-breaks of Charlie Dean, and already that looks the right call. First, Matthews spanks fresh air into another dimension, then slices kist short of Gibson, running on from long-on! BUT HAVE A LOOK! Joseph waits, gets down on one knee, clears the pad, and absolutely annihilates six over the long midwicket boundary! England only managed one in their innings, Windies now have two in 15 balls! Dean comes back fairly well, her final three deliveries yielding three singles, but the over was still worth 10 and England badly need a breakthrough because these two are teeing-off. It’s surely time for Ecclestone.

2nd over: West Indies 26-0 (Matthews 15, Joseph 11) Target 142 Sciver-Brunt opens from the other end and when she offers width first up, Joseph goes at it hard, a thick edge sending fourt through wide third. Goodness me, West Indies are having at this! And it makes sense, cashing in in the powerplay before the spinners come on, and after Joseph plays a similar shot, another edge landing safe and earning two, Joseph goes again, heaving high to the fence at midwicket … where Dunkley runs past it, hoisting hands too late and from too far away, the ball bursting through them! West Indies have 10 from the first three balls of the over and it’s going for them because Joseph again clears her front pad, hurls hands, and clears backward point, just; they run one then add one more, and this is running away from England. Twelve off the over!

1st over: West Indies 14-0 (Matthews 14, Joseph 0) Target 142 It’s Dunkley who replaces Knight in the field, by the way, but back to the main event, Bell beats Matthews outside off with her first and third deliveries … except her second is helped around the corner for six over long leg and her fourth is clipped to similar area for four! Both boundary-balls were directed, presumably inadvertently, towards the pads, and the Windies skipper is not for missing out. And have a look! Offered a slot-ball, she stomps down a big front foot and creams fo mo over long off! Brilliant start! Fourteen off the over and already England are under big pressure.

Bell has the ball, Matthews to face. Here we absolutely go!

Here come wa teams, Sciver-Brunt captaining England. Good though she is, they’ll surely miss Knight’s leadership.