England v Sri Lanka: second women’s T20 cricket international – live

Afternoon everyone and welcome to the OBO. Another day, another T20 international. No sooner have England’s men dismantled New Zealand than England’s women get the chance to wrap up a series against Sri Lanka.

For Heather Knight and her youngish team, the omens are good: the Sri Lankans have never beaten England in a T20 game. In 12 meetings, the best they’ve managed is to escape twice with a no-result, which doesn’t look very likely today as Chelmsford is due to be dry with sunny spells. The weather was most inhospitable at Hove on Thursday, reducing the chase to just six overs and expecting the Sri Lankans to come out after the rain and make 45 off 17 balls.

For England, the game was a breeze. The players finally collected the same match fee as the men, £3500 apiece, and they earned it. The new-look top order slotted straight into place with every batter getting a start.

The new fast bowler, Mahika Gaur, brought her distinctive blend of pace, bounce, skill and know-how. At 17 she already has international experience with UAE and it showed as she resumed an over after the rain, got hit for six, retorted with a bouncer and then grabbed the big scalp by having Chamari Athapaththu caught behind. England may prefer to rest Gaur today, but the Chelmsford crowd would surely love to see her.

Play starts at 2.30pm BST, and I’ll be back with news of the toss soon after 2.