Germany Women's wins T20 tournament in Belgium

On an invitation from Belgium, on the last weekend of July saw women's teams from the host country, Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands (Utrecht) play out a round- robin T/20 league followed by a final and a play-off for third and fourth position.

Germany, which had been undefeated in its league games, ran out winners in the final, played in Ghent on 31 July, with 12 run victory over Hungary. Germany 84 for 4 in 20 overs, top scorer Monika Loveday scoring 23, Brauser 20 not out. Hungary who were all out for 73 in their 19 overs , top scorer Cox 9 and a contribution from Baloch 8. Belgium took third place with a 27 run win over the Dutch representatives: Belgium 105 for 1, Dutch XI 78 for 4.

The German team, coached by Hans-Heinrich Mai and captained by Monika Loveday, who is also the German Women's Development Officer, was made up of players from different parts of Germany; Munich, Tegernsee, Passau, Bodensee, Oldenburg and Cologne. While Germany's batting always provided the needed runs in each game, the strength of the team was in its accurate bowling attack backed up by efficient fielding, which secured a number of run-outs.

This was a great initiative by Belgium cricket, keeping alive the need for international competition among Europe's women cricketers.