Freya impresses on England debut

Western Storm bowler Freya Davies made an immediate impact on the international stage as England cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka to go one-nil up in their IT20 series in Colombo.

After electing to bat first, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 94. The wickets were shared around, with Anya Shrubsole getting a double breakthrough before debutant Davies snagged two herself to finish with two for 28.

Linsey Smith went on to take her best figures in an IT20, with three for 18. There were wickets as well for Laura Marsh and Nat Sciver.

In reply, Tammy Beaumont finished unbeaten on 50 to take England to victory, and her half-century also took her past 1,000 IT20 runs – the fifth Englishwoman to do so.

Shrubsole’s two wickets also saw her overtake Dani Hazell to become England’s leading IT20 wicket-taker.

After the match Davies said: “I don’t think words can ever do justice to your England debut. There’s a mixture of fear and excitement and it was definitely exciting to get out there with the girls today and get that win.

“It’s a day that I’ve been looking forward to for so long. For that dream to now have become a reality is a bit strange but it was great to have mum and dad here today.

“It was great to get a couple of wickets and that got the nerves under control a little bit. The most important thing is that we got the win ad went one-nil up in the series.”