Beaumont and Jones tons set up crushing England win

First ODI, Derby

England 345-6 (50 overs): Jones 122 (121); Beaumont 107 (104); Matthews 2-49

West Indies 237 (48.2 overs): Joseph 62 (74); Smith 5-36

England won by 108 runs

Scorecard

Centuries from Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones set up a crushing 108-run win for England over West Indies in the first one-day international at Derby.

Jones was promoted to open for the first time since 2019 and made 122, her first international hundred, and Beaumont added 107 in an opening stand of 222.

In her first ODI since being appointed permanent captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt added a rapid 52 from 35 balls to propel England to 345-6.

In reply, West Indies openers Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph started positively with a stand of 91 in 14 overs, before debutante Em Arlott claimed the prized wicket of Matthews for 48.

Joseph top-scored with 62 but left-arm spinner Linsey Smith ripped through the middle order on ODI debut, finishing with 5-36 as the tourists were bowled out for 237 in the penultimate over.

New coach Charlotte Edwards had called for England to be smarter in 50-over cricket since their Ashes drubbing at the beginning of the year, and they started watchfully in overcast conditions, reaching 45-0 from the first 10 overs.

Beaumont's fifty came from 74 balls, before a sudden shift in acceleration saw her take just 22 balls to bring up her hundred as she beat Jones to the milestone and was eventually bowled by Cherry-Ann Fraser in the 36th over.

Emma Lamb, recalled to the side after impressive domestic form as a Lancashire opener, was put in at number three and was caught behind for two.

Jones stuttered as she approached three figures - she was dropped on 91 and 92 by Jahzara Claxton and Karishma Ramharack respectively, both put down in their follow-through, before bringing up a 108-ball ton in her 226th international outing.

England comfortably won the preceding T20 series 3-0, and the second ODI takes place at Leicester on 4 June.

When asked about her coaching style and ambitions after being appointed in April, Edwards often made references to England's approach to 50-over cricket, calling for a clearer gameplan and moving away from her predecessor Jon Lewis' mantra of inspiring and entertaining.

With the World Cup in this format approaching in the autumn, England do not have long to put this into practice but at the first time of asking, their batters delivered.

West Indies' attack was unthreatening and their fielding average, so it could be argued that Jones and Beaumont could have been a little more aggressive in the first half of the innings as they reached 121-0 after 25 overs.

But the plan was clear, as the pair adjusted to the slow bowling attack and made sure they had wickets in hand before accelerating in the final 20 overs.

England played 55% attacking shots inside the first 10 overs, which dropped to 45% in the next 10 and once both openers had passed 50, that increased to 77% between overs 21-30.

Their opening stand was England's fifth-highest partnership in women's ODI history and their highest for any wicket against West Indies in the format, which set the perfect platform for Sciver-Brunt.

Lamb was playing an unfamiliar role, coming to the crease in the 36th over, but captain Sciver-Brunt whacked six fours and a six from the wilting Windies bowlers as England passed 300 with ease.

Alice Capsey, brought in to replace the injured Heather Knight, added a quickfire 24 from 19 balls and despite a fast outfield and good batting surface, the total felt far beyond the tourists, whose batting line-up relies so heavily on their captain and all-rounder Matthews.

Despite the positive improvements in the batting department, it was a disappointing start from England in the field as their bowlers struggled for control and the sloppiness that has plagued their fielding for some time continued.

Joseph, a familiar face to England after her T20 World Cup heroics last year, batted with much more control than that infamous innings though she still whacked nine fours with her usual leg-side dominance. Matthews, meanwhile, carried her sparkling form from the T20 series before a lapse in concentration saw her edge Arlott behind at the beginning of the 15th over.

From there, England's win felt inevitable as West Indies resisted, but the run-rate completely stalled – between overs 20-30, they scored at just 2.8 runs per over.

Zaida James was dropped on nought by Sophia Dunkley but could not capitalise on her chance as she was pinned lbw for seven for Smith's first breakthrough, before Shemaine Campbelle and Mandy Mangru were bowled by beautiful floating deliveries which turned through their defences.

Jahzara Claxton and Fraser were both caught on the boundary by Dunkley, the latter falling to the final ball of Smith's spell as she became just the second England player to take a five-wicket haul on ODI debut.

The hosts were frustrated by the lower order with Aaliyah Alleyne scoring 44, helping West Indies reach their highest ODI total against England.

But Smith has given Edwards an interesting selection headache for the upcoming India series regarding world number one Sophie Ecclestone, who was left out of this series to continue her recovery from a knee injury.