Women's World Cup: West Indies beat defending champions England by 7 runs in thriller

Chasing 226, England were struggling at 156 for 8 at the end of the 36th over before Ecclestone and Cross nearly carried them home

The West Indies edged past defending champions England by seven runs in a thrilling league-stage encounter of the ICC women's World Cup here on Wednesday, leaving the tournament favourites in a spot of bother.

Batting first, the West Indies women, despite an impressive opening stand of 81 between veterans Deandra Dottin (31 off 64 balls) and Hayley Matthews (45 off 58 balls), managed a mediocre 225 for 6 in 50 overs after opting to bat in their second league match.

Keeper-batter Shemaine Campbell (66 off 80 balls) and Chedan Nation (49 off 74 balls) were the stars of the show as they added 123 runs for the fifth wicket to steer the team.

In reply, England nearly pulled through, courtesy a 61-run stand between Sophie Ecclestone (33 no) and Kate Cross (27) for the ninth wicket before being all-out for 218 in 47.4 overs. This was the West Indies' women's first ever World Cup win over England.

"It's a nice feeling. Nerve-wracking for me though. When we checked the stats at this ground, we found that we were about 10 under par. We knew we had to bowl well and field well," West Indies captain Stefanie Taylor said in the post-match presentation.

West Indies have now won both their games and are placed second on points table while England, with back-to-back defeats, including the opening round game against Australia, are placed sixth among eight teams.

"They batted outstandingly at the start and came hard at us. We came back well with the ball, but just struggled to break that partnership (Campbelle-Nation). Also gave a few too many in the last few overs. Obviously there is frustration," said England skipper Heather Knight.