England fall to second Women’s World Cup defeat as West Indies triumph in thriller

The chances of England defending their World Cup title shrunk dramatically after they lost their group-stage match against West Indies by seven runs, in a nail-biting scrap.

At 156-8 in 35 overs, chasing 225, England looked down and out, but a record 61-run ninth-wicket partnership between Kate Cross (27) and Sophie Ecclestone (33 not out) took them agonisingly close. It was off-spinner Anisa Mohammed who finally sunk their hopes, getting her fingertips to the ball to run out Cross backing up in the 48th over, before clean bowling Anya Shrubsole three balls later to finish the job.

For West Indies, a 123-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Shemaine Campbelle (66) and Chedean Nation (49 not out) proved crucial, while Hayley Matthews – who scored a century in her side’s opening game – chipped in with 45 runs and the key wickets of Heather Knight and Nat Sciver, as England were all out for 218.

Following on from a loss to Australia in their opening game, England now face an uphill struggle to qualify for the semi-finals, while West Indies have become the unlikely challengers for the title, having also beaten hosts New Zealand on Friday.

“We’ve obviously made it tricky for ourselves but no way are we out of this World Cup yet,” Knight said after play. “We can’t linger on it too much. We’ve got to take the things that we can do a lot better out of the game and make sure we’re focusing on the next one.”

“That next game is crucial to our World Cup hopes. Hopefully that will sharpen people up, because at the moment we’re fighting for our lives in this tournament.”

England’s chase was nervy from the start, after Lauren Winfield-Hill departed early courtesy of a spectacular catch from Deandra Dottin, diving full stretch