England v India: second women’s one-day international – live!

Charlotte Edwards is amazed that England opted to bowl first on such a good pitch for the batters, and not at all surprised that they haven’t changed a winning team.

England 1 Lauren Winfield-Hill, 2 Tammy Beaumont, 3 Heather Knight (capt), 4 Nat Sciver, 5 Amy Jones (wkt), 6 Sophia Dunkley, 7 Katherine Brunt, 8 Sophie Ecclestone, 9 Sarah Glenn, 10 Anya Shrubsole, 11 Kate Cross.

Heather Knight flips, Mithali Raj calls tails, it’s heads, and India will bat first again.

Afternoon everyone and welcome to a dose of sanity. England and India are about to show that it’s possible to stage an international sporting occasion without anyone spouting jingoistic drivel, booing their opponents’ anthem, harping on about what happened half a century ago, or giving an out-of-form star 8 out of 10 for managing one good moment in the match. OK, there may not be 20m people watching with bated breath either, but then you can’t have it all.

England go into this second ODI at Taunton one-nil up with two to play. India, who had done so well to salvage a draw in the Test, made one mistake in the first ODI: they failed to remember that in this format you have to get a move on. Of their batters only Shafali Verma, born in 2004, was in any rush, and after living by the slog, she died by it too, backing away and top-edging Katherine Brunt. Her team-mates motored along in the middle lane and duly reached the destination they had entered in their satnav: 200 off 50 overs, plus one for good measure.

England, in cruise control, overtook India with 15 overs and eight wickets to spare. The main excitement lay in seeing whether Tammy Beaumont and Nat Sciver could race along at exactly a run a ball (they did). India’s batting, sluggish though it was, wasn’t far off their average for the past five years, which is 226 per 50 overs. It was their bowling wot lost it – they typically concede just 203 per 50 overs, not 202 in 35. They’re the third-best team in the world in this format, behind Australia and England, and they face a simple choice today: show it or blow it.

Play starts at 2pm (UK time) and the weather forecast is sunny with some benign-looking clouds later on. See you just after 1.30 with the toss and the teams.