England XI-W Win European Championship 2024

England XI retained their European T10 Women’s Championship title by beating Netherlands by eight wickets in the final at the Cartama Oval near Malaga.

The win meant that England XI again emulated their male counterparts, who also retained their European title at the same venue in October, and repeated their victory over the Dutch in last year’s final.

A superb unbeaten 59 from Lancashire and former Cumbria left-hander Tilly Kesteven saw England XI to a target of 88 with 13 balls to spare.

But this was another excellent team performance, set up by Caitlin Belcher’s three wickets in the power play overs and backed up by Jasmine Westley who conceded just nine runs in her two overs at the other end of the innings to keep Netherlands under 100.

England XI lost Emilia Lamb and Amy Gordon to catches in the deep from successive balls from Lara Leemhuis in the second over of their chase but Kesteven batted with composure under pressure to see them home without further alarm in an unbroken third wicket partnership of 76 with Beth Gammon.

Kesteven struck four sixes and seven fours from 21 balls while Gammon was happy to play a useful supporting role with a run-a-ball 21 which included three fours.

England captain Chiara Green again lifted the trophy at the end of a campaign in which only Scotland got the better of her side.

“We’ve had a really good week, that was another nice team performance so we are really happy,” Green said.

“We learnt a bit from last year so we had that in our favour. Anything can happen so it’s about learning from those things and keep pushing your way through.

“It’s a great tournament and we all love it. The environment here is amazing with the vibe of the ground and everyone puts on a show. It’s so exciting.

“It’s a format in which anything can happen so you have to go with the flow. We said to the girls when we arrived that we will have a plan but you will not stick to it because it changes ball-by-ball.”

Kesteven struck the only sixes of the match which reflected how well England bowled after Netherlands captain Caroline de Lange had won the toss and opted to bat first.

Belcher struck with the third ball of the match when Phebe Molkenboer clipped her to Gammon at midwicket and Green then snared the dangerous Sanya Khurana with a smart stumping by Maddie Ward.

The Netherlands slumped to 16 for four when Merel Dekeling then Robin Schmidt were well taken by Amy Wheeler at square leg before de Lange began the fightback by clobbering her first three balls from Belcher for fours.

De Lange and Robine Rijke shared a fifth wicket partnership of 67 which ensured Netherlands posted a competitive total but Westley’s miserly overs denied them late acceleration.

De Lange fell in the final when she was run out by smart fielding and an accurate throw from Rhiannon Knowling-Davies at long-off for a valuable 34 but her efforts were quickly eclipsed by Kesteven’s brilliant strokeplay.

Although Belcher took the Player of the Final Award, Kesteven was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player having finished with 221 runs despite starting the week with a second ball duck in the opening Premier Division match against Netherlands on Sunday.

“I saw some clips of last year’s competition on Instagram and online but it took me a while to adjust and adapt and I didn’t have a great start,” she said.

“But I thought that I would go back at it and throw everything at it and it came off.

“We have so much strength in our team that I knew that we had people to come in who could get runs so I just tried to stay calm and play as I play.”

Earlier in the day Ireland beat Scotland by seven wickets in an eliminator but were then beaten by the same margin by Netherlands in the qualifier to decide who would meet England XI in the final.

European T10 Women’s Championship

Cartama Oval, Malaga

Final: Netherlands 87-5 (Caroline de Lange 34, Robine Rijke 26 not out, Caitlin Belcher 3-21), England XI 89-2 (Tilly Kesteven 59 not out, Beth Gammon 21 not out). England XI won by eight wickets.

England XI | Chiara Green (Sussex), Beth Gammon (Glamorgan), Libby Thomas (Glamorgan), Maddie Ward (Yorkshire), Ria Fackrell (Yorkshire), Amy Wheeler (The Blaze), Caitlin Belcher (Gloucestershire), Rhiannon Knowling-Davies (Derbyshire), Emilia Lamb (Lancashire), Tilly Kesteven (Lancashire), Rachel King (Sussex), Jasmine Westley (unattached), Amy Gordon (Kent).