Academy make it four in a row

England Academy cruised to their fourth victory in four, but then so they should against a Sri Lanka A side that has buckets of enthusiasm, but is lacking in raw talent.

England posted another decent total of 273 all out based around solid contributions from opener Emma Lamb (85) and keeper Ellie Threlkeld (58). Sophia Dunkley also hit a lusty 38. After a slow start Lamb found her touch and after reaching her fifty let loose on the Sri Lankan bowlers. In the over she was out bowled she had already taken 14 runs, but advancing down the wicket she played over the ball and departed bowled.

Dunkley creamed her first two balls for fours through the covers and continued to look to punish almost every ball she faced. She found a willing partner in Threlkeld who was happy to play both straight man and straight in the V, pushing the singles to allow her team mate to wreak more havoc. Dunkley finally played one shot too many and was stumped, but Threkeld continued bringing up her fifty in the 48th over. She celebrated in the next over by launching an imperious 6 over wide long-on, but was out in the same over caught behind.

273 was always going to be too many for the Sri Lankans although they started brightly. But they lost wickets at regular intervals - 26, 52, 68, 80, 94, 100, 113 and 113 - four of them to Sophie Ecclestone who bowled her 10 overs straight through for figures of 4/32, starting at the tenth over. At 113/8 the game looked to be coming to an early conclusion but Sri Lankan number 9 Malsha had other ideas. She swung lustily to leg in the fashion of someone scything down barley, or flat-batted the ball over extra cover. It proved effective as she scored 47 quick runs as the ninth wicket pair added 66 in 11 overs. The partnership was finally broken by the returning Beth Langston, and  Kate Cross polished off the final wicket, leaving the Sri Lankans 186 all out, still 87 runs adrift.

England batting (unofficial) - Lamb 85, Jones 15, Adams 18, Wilson 1, Dunkley 38, Armitage 0, Threlkeld 58, Cross 16, Butler 18, Ecclestone 1, Davies 2*

Engalnd bowling (unofficial) - Langston 6-0-25-2, Davies 4-0-21-0, Cross 3.5 -0-15-1, Ecclestone 10-2-32-4, Hartley 7-0-28-2, Armitage 4-0-14-0, Butler 2-0-29-0, Dunkley 3-0-16-0

MD
2/IV/16