Allround effort secures victory for Australia A

Just like the senior team, Australia A too made a winning start to their tour of England, beating England Academy by five wickets in the first of a five-match one-day series at Loughborough on Wednesday (July 3).

The visitors were boosted by the presence of Tayla Vlaeminck and Nicola Carey, who missed out on selection in the first Ashes ODI against England. The pair made their presence felt with the ball and bat respectively.

Having elected to field, Australia A made early inroads into England Academy’s line-up when Tahlia McGrath (1-9) removed Lauren Winfield for 21. However, the home side resurrected the innings thanks to a 73-run stand between Georgie Boyce (55) and Sophia Dunkley (52).

With England Academy placed comfortably at 122 for 2 in the 28th over, Carey showed off her skills in the field. The allrounder’s run-out of Boyce triggered a stream of wickets. First, Vlaeminck struck to remove Georgia Elwiss (4), England Academy captain, for four, then, Amanda Wellington, the leg-spinner, affected a run out and took two wickets to put the brakes on the home side’s scoring rate.

Australia A’s chase began steadily, before the 66-run stand between Georgia Redmayne (13) and McGrath (48) was broken by Bryony Smith. The wicket of Sophie Molineux (33) triggered a bit of a collapse, but Rachel Trenamen (22*) and Sammy-Jo Johnson (25*) combined to help Australia overhaul the target with eight overs to spare.

The two teams will face off for the second one-day match of the series at Loughborough on Friday (July 5).