England v West Indies: Hosts win first ODI by record 208 runs

England began a busy summer with a record 208-run win over West Indies in the first women's one-day international in Leicester.

Captain Heather Knight hit 94 and Amy Jones 91 as England posted 318-9.

The hosts had been 207-2 before losing regular wickets in the final 15 overs but still set the visitors what would have been a record women's ODI chase.

Spinners Sophie Ecclestone and Laura Marsh both took 3-30 as West Indies fell well short on 110 all out.

They were also indebted to Katherine Brunt (2-6 from five overs) and Kate Cross (1-12) for some miserly seam bowling with the new ball which left the tourists well behind the required rate from the very beginning.

The win is England's biggest winning margin against West Indies, beating the previous 146-run victory in Sydney in the 2009 World Cup.

More importantly, they earn two points in the International Cricket Council's Women's Championship, which realistically only leaves them a couple of wins away from qualifying for the 2021 World Cup.

The two sides will play each other again in the second ODI at New Road, Worcester on Sunday.

• 'It could push cricket in this country to a new level' - Heather Knight column

• West Indies in England - full schedule

England's top order fires

Amy Jones has now hit half-centuries in her last four ODIs

Jones hit the first the ball of the game for six as she and Tammy Beaumont (32) got England off to a rapid start, reaching 55-0 after seven overs.

Jones latched on to anything short and Beaumont twice ramped to the boundary in an attempt to shift the field around as the hosts toyed with the visitors.

After Beaumont and the returning Sarah Taylor fell in the space of six balls, a magnificent 146-run partnership between Jones and Knight lay a platform for England.

The pair played beautifully all around the wicket, with hard sweeps and glorious cover drives a feature of Knight's knock while Jones peppered the straight and leg side boundary.

The Warwickshire right-hander looked set to reach her first ODI century but picked out Stacy-Ann King at mid-off with a lofted drive.

Knight will be disappointed in the manner of her dismissal. After hitting Afy Fletcher for back-to-back boundaries, she picked out short fine leg with a sweep to fall six short of a second ODI century, but by that point England were well and truly in command.

Fielding lets both sides down

In England's innings, the standard of West Indies' fielding really stood out as being well below the standard required. Captain Stafanie Taylor called it "atrocious" and the "worst I've seen from us" in her post-match interview.

There were numerous mistakes with fielders overrunning the ball and Knight reached her fifty as a result of a sweep shot that should have been stopped at fine leg.

A lusty blow from Anya Shrubsole was helped over the boundary by Chinelle Henry - a ball after she should have been stumped by Kycia Knight.

Ex-England captain Charlotte Edwards said on BBC Test Match Special that she "expected a lot better from West Indies in the field, their body language was poor and they seemed to give up quite quickly."

England will feel there is further improvement in their fielding too. Knight dropped Hayley Matthews on 17 and Laura Marsh and Amy Jones both shelled catches that would have made the margin of victory even larger.

Knight admitted that it is an area England "think they can really improve on".

'We want to keep improving' - what they said

England captain Heather Knight: "We've talked about hitting the ground running. It's not been a strength of ours in previous series so I'm chuffed.

"We were disappointed with 318 in the end. If me or Amy had been there in the last five overs we might have been able to push that score up even higher.

"We want to keep improving as individuals and as a team and I think we're doing that. It's about the girls not in the team and in the squad pushing the players and pushing the standards even higher."

West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor: "It's hard to swallow. I didn't think we bowled to our plan and it cost us. The English girls are quite good when you look at their batting line-up, it'll take more from us to get them out.

"We need to go back to the drawing board. We have two games to go so hopefully we can bounce back."

BBC Sport has launched #ChangeTheGame this summer to showcase female athletes in a way they never have been before. Through more live women's sport available to watch across the BBC this summer, complemented by our journalism, we are aiming to turn up the volume on women's sport and alter perceptions. Find out more here.