England v West Indies: first women's T20 international – live!

2nd over: England 16-0 (Beaumont 15, Wyatt 0) Selman with her handy outswing next up but Beaumont takes control from the get-go, getting down low to play an excellent paddle sweep with fine leg inside the circle. Four runs. She had a go at it earlier in the over but the change wasn’t made to the field, the right-hander making no mistake the second time around. Now the field moves, slip coming out, fine leg going back. Beaumont goes the other way later in the over, dancing down the track to clip through midwicket… and she’s dropped! Britney Cooper had plenty of work to do coming in off the rope there but it did carry, the replay shows. In keeping with the theme of the eventful over, Beaumont slaps the final ball over mid-off for a third boundary; her fourth of the innings. Meanwhile, Wyatt is yet to face a delivery.

“The juggernaut called the Indian Premier League has begun once more on the other side of the world (my one),” begins Abhijato Sensarma. “Yet, there’s immense focus on this series too, considering how some of these matches will be broadcast on the BBC after ages! Nat Sciver is my personal favourite in this English side, and I think her all-round contributions are criminally underrated. That pesky Australian named Perry is perhaps the greatest in the history of the sport, a factor which makes all others pale in comparison. But Sciver keeps chipping in with vital runs and key wickets day in and day out. She’s an inspiration, and I would love to see her do well in this comeback match.”

Join us in the Nat Sciver Fan Club. If I’m not the No1 member, I must be close.

1st over: England 6-0 (Beaumont 5, Wyatt 0) Connell misses by a long way to begin outside the off-stump, a wide called. But two balls later, she beats Beaumont’s edge, then cutting her in half with a beauty the delivery after that. The opener keeps her cool though, rocking back to pull a shorter ball that follows. Shot.

The players are on the field. Beaumont and Wyatt are walking to the middle set to opening the batting. Shamilia Connell, the veteran seamer of the West Indies attack, is taking the new ball. Before play begins, both teams are taking a knee. And now they’re ready to go! PLAY!

One to file in the ‘things that cost nothing but mean something’, folder: Sky have popped this game onto their main cricket channel, shuffling the end of the IPL match to Mix. Of course, this doesn’t preclude anybody from watching what they want – you don’t have one station without the other – but it reinforces, once again, that Sky are very serious with their ongoing commitment to women’s cricket.

Lisa Keightley is on Sky. The still-new England coach, who replaced Mark Robinson after last year’s Women’s Ashes loss, says the main area she wants improvement in from the World Cup is their batting during the power play. With the ball, she believes they are giving away too many boundaries to start and finish overs.

England XI: Danni Wyatt, Tammy Beaumont, Nat Sciver, Heather Knight (c), Fran Wilson, Amy Jones (wk), Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn.

Interesting that Beaumont is back to the top of the list, having been used as a finisher during the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Good call. Mady Villiers, the young gun Essex spinner, also keeps her spot. She’s a serious talent.

West Indies XI: Hayley Matthews (wk), Deandra Dottin, Stafanie Taylor (c), Shermaine Campbelle, Chinelle Henry, Britney Cooper, Lee-Ann Kirby, Aaliyah Alleyne, Afy Fletcher, Shamila Connell, Shakera Selman.

Hayley Matthews with the gloves on this tour… a true triple-threat.

Knight says she didn’t mind what England did first. They’ve named the same XI that defeated the West Indies by 46 runs at the World Cup back in March. Stafanie Taylor jokes that the hardest part of being in the bubble is not being able to get out and shop so they have been doing so online instead. “Given we have been away for such a long time, just getting back into it is exciting. We want a series win. It’s not going to be easy but we just have to go out there and give it our all.”

Heather Knight won the toss. Teams shortly.

As we wait for the toss and teams on the telly, a quick reminder that, as always, you can talk to me throughout the evening. Drop me a line, ping me a tweet. And the weather is playing its part for once: it’s a lovely evening at Derbyshire.

A nice moment in England camp on Sunday. Nat Sciver and Katherine Brunt were going to be married last weekend, if not for everything that has happened and the delay of the women’s international season as a result. Well, they didn’t tie the knot in the biosecure bubble in Derby but they did have a surprise celebration – a fake wedding, as it was dubbed – instead. Read more about their adorable story from when I talked to them last year, announcing their engagement in our pages.

Check out Raf’s preview. Heather Knight was excellent in the build up to this series, mindful of how important it is that her take full advantage of the games ahead. Of course, the last time England played (or didn’t, as it were) was the semi-final of the aforementioned T20 World Cup in March: rained off without a ball being bowled. As a result, in the absence of a reserve day, India went through as the high qualifier.