England's Women lose first Tour Match in Australia

England's women had a bad start ahead of their one-day series in Australia. They lost by nine wickets to the Victoria state team in a warm-up tour match in Melbourne.
The tourists were bowled out for 137, with only Jenny Gunn (29) and Nicki Shaw (26 off 23 balls) making much of an impression with the bat. It left Victoria an easy task and they knocked off the runs in their 36th over.

"We're disappointed with our performance. It was a long way from our best," said England coach Mark Dobson, but insisted: "I'm confident that with a week's training and two more warm-up games, we'll be back close to our best and ready to compete."

England, who used 13 players during the match, never recovered from the early loss of opener Beth Morgan (1), Claire Taylor (9) and captain Charlotte Edwards (5). Sarah Taylor made 21 off 33 balls, but Lydia Greenway (20) was the only other batter, apart from Gunn and Shaw, to reach double figures.

Although Jenny Gunn (picture) later trapped Elyse Villani lbw for 15 at the start of Victoria's reply, Rachel Haynes (63 not out) and Sarah Edwards (50 not out) saw the Australian state team to their target as England opted to give nine different bowlers a chance to turn their arms over.

England: 137 (48.3 overs) <> Victoria: 143-1 (35.4 overs)