JERSEY Women’s national cricket team made it a sensational four wins from four in the European Cricket Championships Challenger 2024, with commanding victories over Austria and hosts Spain.
The unbeaten Caesareans were set to play Austria again this morning [8.35am], before facing Germany [2.35pm].
After positioning themselves beautifully with two excellent wins on day one, Darren Thomas’s side knew two further wins would put them in an excellent standing coming into the back-end of the tournament.
First up for the Islanders was an Austrian team who had two wins to their name, but all-rounder Trinity Smith described the team as “very confident” after their opening day triumphs.
“As a group we really took a lot of confidence from day one,” Smith said.
“We felt like we found a good groove and were really excited to get back out for another two games.”
The Austrians took to the batting crease first, looking to put the pressure on with a big first innings score.
The Jersey outfit were superb, however, reducing the Austrians to just 69-3 from their ten overs. Both skipper Chloe Greechan and Erin Duffy were excellent, going for just 12 runs each from their two-over spells, but Grace Wetherall proved the pick, conceding just eight runs from her two overs.
The three Austrian wickets all fell to run-outs, two of them to Smith, featuring an excellent direct hit to remove the dangerous opener Andrea-Mae Zepeda.
In reply, the Jersey innings got off to a good start, with Analise Merritt and Aimee Aikenhead scoring swiftly from the off.
Merritt was the first to go, after a superb catch from Anisha Nookala removed her for 11.
Smith joined Aikenhead at the crease and the pair went a long way to steering their side to victory.
Aikenhead was removed LBW for 17 and Smith followed after being bowled for 21, leading to a slight middle-order wobble.
Florence Tanguy came and went for a three-ball duck, before Grace Wetherall also followed for a duck, this time out first ball.
It was down to skipper Greechan, alongside the reliable Erin Gouge, to steer their side over the line, Greechan finishing unbeaten on a crucial 16 to secure a five-wicket win with eight balls remaining.
With no time to rest, Greechan and co were straight back in action against tournament hosts Spain, who themselves have had an impressive tournament so far.
Once again losing the toss, Jersey were sent into the field, something Smith said the team was comfortable with.
“We are comfortable as a team batting second. We like the advantage of knowing what we’re chasing.
“I think we deal with that pressure really well as a group, and that shows in our performances.”
When faced with a tough Spanish side, Smith added: “We were expecting a tough game.
“We knew how capable their batting line-up was so we were expecting some big hitting, but I think we controlled the innings brilliantly with the ball.
“We’re an incredibly close group and we always get around each other so well.
“This can be an unforgiving format, especially for the bowlers, so knowing we all have each others’ backs is such a bonus.”
After conceding 69 runs in the Austria game, Jersey nearly went better, reducing their Spanish counterparts to just 75-3 on this occasion.
Greechan was again outstanding with the ball in the powerplay, shipping just six runs from two overs, with a wicket a piece for Merritt, Duffy and Tanguy.
In reply with the bat, it was Merritt who grabbed the bull by the horns, smashing a brutal 26 off just ten deliveries, including one boundary and three enormous sixes, including one down the ground off the first ball of the innings.
This got her side off to the perfect start, which allowed for contributions from all of the top order, as Tanguy (9*) and Wetherall (15*) came together to see their team over the line to smash their side to a seven-wicket victory with seven balls remaining.
Assistant coach Luke Gallichan has been impressed with his side, saying: “I think we’ve been outstanding with the ball and in the field.
“We have restricted all four teams really well which has made our job with the bat straightforward enough.
“This is a long tournament though and we still have games to play. We’re trying not to get too far ahead of ourselves.
“We want to keep this momentum going tomorrow and see how far overall this group can go.”
Smith concluded after the fourth consecutive win: “I think our economy rate with the ball has been so important.
“We’ve been able to bowl and field to a level that has stopped these teams from getting away from us.
“Then with the bat, we’ve used the three-over powerplay well to get us off to good starts, which we can then control for the rest of the innings.
“Our strike rates have generally been high with the bat, and both of those combined make us a hard team to beat.”
Jersey now sit second in the five-team table, level on points with Spain and with a game in hand.
Jersey: Chloe Greechan (c), Erin Gouge, Florence Tanguy, Analise Merritt, Grace Wetherall, Mia Maguire (wk), Trinity Smith, Erin Duffy, Aimee Aikenhead, Georgia Mallett, Olivia Bastin
