Australia A whitewash England Academy with strong allround performance

The trend of the series continued in a similar template as Australia A beat the England Academy by 123 runs in the third ODI at Haslegrave ground in Loughborough on Monday (July 8). They have thus claimed the one-day leg of the series, 3-0. Elyse Villani and Georgia Redmayne starred with the bat scoring 97 and 91 respectively.

After electing to field, the hosts started on a positive note when Issy Wrong dismissed Sophie Molineux for just six runs in the third over. Although Nicola Carey (15) and Rachel Trenaman (23) offered some resistance, the England Academy bowlers continued to chip away at the wickets. By the time Erin Burns had been dismissed for a duck in the 21st over, Australia A were in a spot of bother at 96 for 4.

It was at this juncture that Georgia Redmayne, the left-hand batter, joined Vilani in the middle. Vilani, who had been promote to open the innings in place of Tahlia McGrath— who scored an unbeaten half-century in the previous match— vindicated the decision with a fluent knock. With Redmayne for company she began to resurrect the Australia A innings. The pair batted for 24.5 overs, sharing a 155-run stand for the fifth wicket before Vilani was dismissed for a 108-ball 97. Her knock included seven four and four sixes.

Villani’s dismissal resulted in another mini collapse as Australia A lost three wickets for 14 runs. Redmayne was run-out for 91 by Charlie Dean in the 48th to reduce the visitors to 265 for 7. A late flourish from Maddy Drake, who struck an unbeaten 11-ball 27,  and Tahila McGrath— a seven-ball 12— enabled Australian A to finish with a total of 313 for 7.

For England Academy, Issy Wong and Alex Hartley were their most successful bowlers, picking up two wickets each.

The hosts’ chase never really took off as they lost three of their top four wickets for just 25 runs. Bryony Smith (51) and Alice Davidson-Richards— both players on the periphery of the England squad— put together an important 52-run partnership.

After the former’s dismissal to Carey, Davidson-Richards managed another half-century association with Mady Villiers (23), but once they were separated by Maitlin Brown, the medium pacer, in the 33rd over, the rest of the batting order fell like a pack of cards. They were eventually dismissed for 190 in the 41.3 overs. Davidson-Richards top scored with an unbeaten 78 at no.5.

Brief scores:

Australia A 313 for 7 in 50 overs (Elyse Villani 97, Georgia Redmayne 91; Alex Hartley 2-35, Issy Wong 2-57) beat England Academy 190 in 41.3 overs (Alice Davidson-Richards 78*, Bryony Smith 51; Maitlin Brown 4-20, Nicola Carey 3-41) by 123 runs.