England Women hand ODI debut to Sophia Dunkley in Sunday's series opener against India
Sophia Dunkley, 22, scored 74 on Test debut last week and has been in excellent white-ball form for South East Stars in Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy; Heather Knight says Danni Wyatt can return to ODI fold at some point; watch first ODI vs India from 10.30am, Sunday, on Sky Sports Cricket
Sunday 27 June 2021 10:32, UK
Sophia Dunkley will make her one-day international debut for England Women in the first game of the three-match series against India on Sunday.
Dunkley scored 74 on her Test debut against the same opposition last week, while she has been in excellent white-ball form in the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.
The 22-year-old has amassed 196 runs in three innings for South East Stars at an average of 98, including an unbeaten 104 against Sunrises and 92 against Western Storm.
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Danni Wyatt will be absent in Bristol having been left out of England's 16-player squad for the series, with Lauren Winfield-Hill poised to open the batting in her absence.
On Wyatt - who has hit one hundred and one fifty in 63 ODI innings - England captain Heather Knight said: "She's a quality cricketer who, I think she'll admit herself, hasn't quite cracked ODI cricket yet.
"She's had a bit of a lean year and she'll be the first one to admit that. We want her to find a little bit of form playing cricket back in the domestic competition.
"Obviously we want to give Lauren an opportunity at the top of the order. We felt like it was the right time now to make the change and give Lauren an opportunity to see what she can do at the top, obviously with not a huge amount of time before the World Cup and Ashes.
"It was a tough decision to leave Danni out - she's a very talented cricketer and a very popular member of our group. But it doesn't mean she's out of our plans completely.
"It's just a little bit of a change of attack and gives Danni the opportunity to go and score some runs in domestic cricket."
England and India are tied at 2-2 in the multi-format series, having drawn the one-off Test match in Bristol last week.
The three ODIs will be followed by as many T20 internationals.
Watch the first ODI live on Sky Sports Cricket and via a live stream on the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel from 10.30am on Sunday.
