England Women Win First Warm-Up Under Lisa Keightley

​SCORECARD

​England Women started their tour of Australia with victory in a warm-up fixture over an ACT XI in Canberra.

Danni Wyatt was the stand-out performer for Lisa Keightley’s side, scoring 77 from the top of the order as England posted 191/7.

Despite losing early wickets, the ACT XI reply kept England honest. Claire Koski and Maddie Penna put on 60 for the fifth wicket, with Koski particularly impressive – striking 38 from just 23 balls.

Anya Shrubsole took three wickets but it was the spin duo of Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn who were the pick of the attack, going at a combined rate of under five an over from their six overs.

It was a good run-out in what was Lisa Keightley’s first game in charge, with Tammy Beaumont’s move to a finishing role at No.6 perhaps the most apparent development of how England may approach the tri-series and subsequent ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

England play India at the Manuka Oval on Friday January 31 in the first game of the tri-series, before going up against Australia at the same venue on Saturday February 1.

The tri-series then moves to Melbourne for its conclusion. All games will be available to watch in the UK on BT Sport.

QUOTES

Heather Knight: "It was a good test. Nat and Danni had a really good partnership up top – Danni continued her form of the last 18 months and Nat was really good, as well.

“We’re only three days off the plane so it was good to see that we’ve got the jet-lag out of the system and there’s quite a quick turnaround between games in the tri-series so that’s a good start.

“Tammy moving to No.6 was something we looked at in Malaysia. We think she can be really good for us there – she can finish games and she can win games of cricket for us. It means she’ll have to adapt and we think she can do that, and we wanted Nat in a slightly different role at No.3.

“We’ll look to be flexible in our batting line-up but that’s the approach we’ve gone with to try and win a World Cup.”