England took advantage of the absence of Hayley Matthews to thrash West Indies by 143 runs in the second one-day international at Leicester on Wednesday.
Having waited 12 years to score a maiden international hundred, Amy Jones resolved to achieve the feat twice in five days, and this time did so in just 76 balls, reaching 129 before departing in the 31st over. Tammy Beaumont, meanwhile, followed up with a second consecutive hundred of her own, despite battling what she jokingly described as “man flu”.
The decision of Charlotte Edwards, the head coach, to reunite the pair after a five-year break now looks like a masterstroke, after they became the first players in ODI history to share consecutive partnerships of more than 200. Beaumont said: “We know each other really well, we’ve known each other for years and years. I couldn’t have asked for it to go better.
Matthews had been ruled out before play because of a shoulder injury, presumably sustained after carrying the entire weight of her team all tour. She spent the England innings stalking the boundary in a sling; she will see a specialist on Thursday to assess whether she is able to play any part in the final ODI at Taunton on Saturday.
West Indies were also without their hard-hitting opener Qiana Joseph with flu, but the 20-year-old Realeanna Grimmond proved a ready replacement, striking a 64-ball half-century on ODI debut.
Grimmond seemed unfazed at being asked to open, even when she was struck on the forearm by a ferocious Lauren Filer, who clocked 75mph in her first international match since the Ashes. The young West Indies batter clobbered Lauren Bell for two sixes over the leg side, before finally holing out to long-on in the 23rd over.
The West Indies A team also suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the South Africa A team in their 1st unofficial test at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground on the same day.
South Africa A won by an innings and 88 runs. A day earlier the West Indies men were humiliated by England winning the 3rd ODI by 7 wickets with 62 balls remaining.