Nasser also thinks Beaumont will be coming up the order, while Cricinfo report that Kate Cross, who wasn’t playing, has hurt herself warming up and been driven off the ground.
Our teams!
England: Wyatt, Jones, Sciver, Knight, Wilson, Beaumont, Brunt, Shrubsole, Villiers, Ecclestone, Glenn.
West Indies: Matthews, Kirby, Taylor, Dottin, Cooper, Campbelle, Alleyne, Nation, Fletcher, Mohammed, Selman.
Deandra Dottin is talking about her way back from injury; apparently she practises in her sleep!
In commentary, they recon Tammy Beaumont will open tonight. That makes sense to me; the Jones-Wyatt experiment hasn’t worked, and leaving it longer is leaving it too long.
We’re watching some VT on Knight, who says she’s not really into Churchillian speeches, but likes to lead by example. Others say she works hard, and runs a happy team; she’s also in serious nick.
He’s expecting the ball to die on batsmen, and reckons bowlers should bowl into the pitch, especially spinners. If they bowl full, they’re taking the pitch out of the equation; back of a length, and the batsmen have a problem.
It’s pretty windy out in the middle, and with the boundaries largely equidistant, hitting well with the breeze will be key. Nasser Hussain reckons it’s a pitch for cutters, and that 130 might be a decent score.
England win the toss and “We’ll have a bat, obviously”.
Heather Knight says the wicket looks like the ones they played on in Malaysia, but refuses to say whether England will adjust their batting order. I’m guessing they will. Mady Villiers comes in because she wants another spin option on what looks a dryish track.
This has been a great tournament so far: close games, favourites getting a doing, continuing jeopardy. But, in the end, the whole is judged on classic knockout matches, and more or less, this is the first of those. Then we’ll have Australia v New Zealand, and the last four, which is where things will need to really excel.
Earlier today: South Africa secured their spot in the last four, beating Pakistan by 17 runs. They’ve been excellent so far, and a likely semi against Australia will be a nice little tester for them.
Elsewhere: in the world Test championship, New Zealand are well set against India, trailing by 96 runs; India have four second-innings wickets left intact.
Preamble
All the talk, all the practise, all the preparation – and for England, it comes down to this: win and they’re in the last four, lose and they’re relying on South Africa or net run rate Such are tournaments, and such is T20.
More than any other version of anything else, T20 can be decided by margins – most particularly whether one player has a day out. Cricket is already an individual sport masquerading as a team game, but T20 amps that up beyond the norm. If your one to 11 “execute” then you should win … but if one of the opposing 11 is a “gun” then you’ve got a problem.
On the face of things, England should win here: ultimately, they’re the better team, in better form. But there’s a sense that they’re not quite right, their experimental batting order seeking the best of all worlds, and overcomplicating in the process. West Indies, meanwhile, still boast eight of the team who won this pot in 2016, the problem being that they’re not in anything approaching that kind of form … except they, or someone, could be.
Play: 7pm local, 8am GMT
Updated