Number four-ranked England leapt to the front of their three-match series against world number three Jamaica with a 63-51 win at the LG Arena in Birmingham yesterday.

Jo Harten led the scoring for the victors with 43 goals from 45 attempts, and was followed by Pamela Cookey, who hit 20 from 23 tries.

Jamaica's top shooters on the day were second half substitute Jhanielle Fowler (20 from 21), Romelda Aiken (18 from 22) and Anna-Kay Griffiths, who played the first half (13 from 15).

The hosts led 13-11 at the end of the first quarter, then 31-26 at half time, but were pegged back to 43 all after three quarters, as the Sunshine Girls won that segment 17-12.

However, the visitors could not maintain their surge and eventually were blown away 20-8 to lose by the 12-point margin.

The next match will be at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on Monday, to be followed by the final game two days later at the EIS in Sheffield.

The last three-match series between the two countries ended with a 2-1 victory in Jamaica last year. Both sides scored the same number of goals in a tightly-contested battle.