Capsey leads way for unconvincing England

Alice Capsey hit a career-best 44 from 65 balls as England comfortably beat Pakistan by 37 runs in the first one-day international against Pakistan at Derby.

- Raf Nicholson

But despite the margin of victory, this was a far from ruthless display, epitomised by a frustrating unbeaten last-wicket stand of 28 runs for the final Pakistan wicket, as England again failed to bowl out opponents whom they should have easily dispatched.

The captain, Heather Knight, described England's performance as "scrappy" and "a little bit lacking in execution". She said: "It was quite tricky to force the game on that wicket. There are a lot of things we can tidy up."

Put in to bat under grey skies, England had managed to score 243 for nine on a stodgy pitch that had been deluged by rain on the eve of the game. But their innings never fully launched there were bits and pieces contributions from all their top seven, but no one reached a half-century.

Capsey came the closest, but even she struggled to pace her innings, missing several attempted reverses and ramps in her 67-run partnership with Amy Jones, before finally plonking the ball back into the hands of the bowler Nashra Sandhu in the 44th over.