Danni Wyatt stars as England storm to Pakistan whitewash
Danni Wyatt’s belligerent 87 from 48 balls powered England to a 3-0 series win over Pakistan at a sun-drenched Headingley.
A whitewash was no less than England would have aimed for in this series against a Pakistan side lacking the power or depth of batting to truly trouble them. Like the first two games, they batted first, and had moments of alarm, but eventually reached a total comfortably out of Pakistan’s reach. They lost by 34 runs chasing 177.
Pakistan made a good start to their chase, putting on 50 for the first wicket in a T20 against England for the first time. As England’s spinners took control, they collapsed again, though, leaving Nida Dar and Aliya Riaz - who shared an unbeaten 69 - too much to do. Lauren Filer, in the side for Lauren Bell, bowled swiftly.
Wyatt was England’s matchwinner. She built her innings, but by the time she reached 50 from her 34th ball, she was in the middle of a blitz that saw her take 28 from seven balls, with particular punishment meted out to Dar. She swept brilliantly, both in the air and along the ground, in front and behind square, as well as carving through the offside as crisply as ever.
Wyatt admitted that she did allow her mind to drift towards the possibility of a third T20 hundred, at which point she was dismissed. It had been a slightly charmed life, as she was dropped three times, most notably by the diving wicketkeeper Muneeba Ali when she had just 12. Had Pakistan been tidier in the field, they would have been chasing a much more manageable target.
Around Wyatt, there was some untidy cricket. Nat Sciver-Brunt miscued a reverse-sweep to backward-point, while Heather Knight simply picked out cover. Maia Bouchier was run out in similar fashion to her dismissal at Northampton on Friday, appearing to set off for a run because she had timed the ball well, only to be left well short. Alice Capsey, demoted two spots to No 5, was also run out in lazy fashion, failing to dive.
The series scoreline was perfect for England, and Wyatt felt the performance was too.
“We have been up there, close to 10 [out of 10],” she said. “It’s been a big team effort I think. Someone else has contributed every match, which is a sign of a good team. Our fielding has been one of the best I have seen.
“The end goal is Bangladesh, T20 World Cup [in October]. That is what we are building towards, and there is a lot of cricket between now and then. We all have the skills, and it’s whether we can handle conditions, and most of it is up here [taps head]. Everyone’s performance in this series has been spot on.”
