England Academy bounce back with strong performance

After a very successful start on Sunday, the Europe Women's XI faced a completely re-invigorated ECB Academy side for the first of their 50-over contests.

With skipper Isobel Joyce ruled out of the match due to illness, vice-captain Helmien Rambaldo (Netherlands) took over the captaincy role, won the toss and elected to bat.

Claire Shillington and Violet Wattenberg opened the batting for the Europe side building a partnership score of 38 runs from 5 overs. However, the early loss of Shillington (24) in the same over saw the beginning of a quick succession of wickets with Tanke (0) and Richardson (0) following suit in the 6th and 9th overs. Wattenberg, known for her steady and controlled batting style, persisted until the 27th over until she was run-out for 36. Then, in a similar vein to Day 1's Twenty20 encounter where there was a heavy loss of middle order wickets, 4 wickets fell for 18 runs following a strong bowling performance by ECB Academy. The latter half of the innings saw Europe finish on a modest total of 133 runs. Key bowlers for the ECB Academy were Danni Wyatt (4-29) and Kathryn Doherty (3-30) whose combined off-spin and seam bowling attack convincingly challenged the Europe batters.

England Academy was equally determined to put in a strong batting performance after falling short in the series opener on day 1. Skipper Jenny Halstead and Alice Macleod opened the batting for the home side and faced seven of the Europe bowlers without losing a wicket. Both batters reached half-centuries in the process eventually reaching their target in the 29th over. The Europe XI side will be looking to bounce back in today's 50 over game after being comprehensively beaten.