England found the perfect appetiser for its Indian tour as it comprehensively outplayed Board President's XI in the warm-up game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday.
Charlotte Edwards and her women found their plans working to a nicety right from the toss and defeated Board President's XI by 141 runs. Opting to bat on winning the toss, England maintained a healthy run-rate through opener Sarah Taylor (52, 62b, 7x4) and Lydia Greenway (81, 82b, 6x4) to post 273 for nine in 50 overs and in reply, Board President's XI scored 132 in 41.2 overs. England's skipper Charlotte fell early, tamely pulling a full-toss down mid-wicket's throat and when Harpreet Dhillon trapped Ebony Rainford Brent in front, the visitor briefly wobbled at 27 for two before racing away despite the late clatter of wickets in the final batting Power Play.
Sarah essayed a few crisp drives while southpaw Lydia too picked her spots while a spin-heavy Indian attack, struggled to restrict the runs. The duo ran hard between the wickets in their 77-run third-wicket alliance while the home team dropped four catches.
In the afternoon, Board President's XI struggled to stitch healthy partnerships and the alarm bells kept ringing right from the moment when opener Latika Kumari fell for a blob while nibbling at Katherine Brunt's late swing.
Captain Babita Mandalik (33) offered brief resistance while her team's runs came at a sluggish pace with the 100 being notched up in the 36th over.
The scores:England: Sarah Taylor c Harpreet b Ekta 52, Charlotte Edwards c Diana b Shikha 17, Ebony Rainford lbw b Harpreet 1, Lydia Greenway (retired out) 81, Beth Morgan st Samantha b Diana 21, Caroline Atkins st Samantha b Neha 25, Jenny Gunn c Shweta b Soniya 32, Nicola Shaw c Soniya b Diana 7, Katherine Brunt c Diana b Soniya 3, Laura Marsh (not out) 19, Isa Guha (not out) 2. Extras (b-1, lb-3, w-9): 13. Total (for nine wkts. in 50 overs): 273.
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-27, 3-104, 4-170, 5-227, 6-242, 7-2, 8-252.
Board President's XI bowling: Shikha 8-1-44-1, Harpreet 6-1-19-1, Ekta 10-0-48-1, Soniya 7-0-56-2, Neha 9-0-51-1, Diana 10-0-51-2.
Board President's XI: Latika Kumari c Sarah b Katherine 0, Neha Tanwar lbw b Laura 9, Shweta (run out) 7, Babita Mandalik c Caroline b Laura 33, Diana David lbw Isa 18, Soniya Dabir c Isa b Charlotte 21, Neha Maji b Edwards 3, Shikha Pande b Nicola 17, Harpreet Dhillon lbw b Nicola 2, Ekta Bisht c Jenny b Charlotte 1, Samantha Lobatto (not out) 0. Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-19): 21. Total (all out in 41.2 overs): 132.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-12, 3-53, 4-73, 5-82, 6-98, 7-129, 8-131, 9-132.
England bowling: Katherine 6-3-13-1, Isa 9-2-29-1, Laura 8-1-20-2, Nicola 8.2-0-41-2, Jenny 6-0-14-0, Charlotte 4-2-14-3.
