Ben Stokes was effective in the field, catching their opener, and eventual top scorer, off the bowling of James Tredwell and was in the middle just long enough to hit a boundary, returning to the pavilion with his wicket intact once the England side scored the winning runs.
Liam Plunkett made his second appearance for the EPP having taken four wickets in their four day match earlier in the tour.
The ECB kindly sent us this update from the fixture –
An impressive performance by the England Performance Programme against a WA IIs side with a mixture of players with State experience and younger players of potential. Initially struggling to get their lengths right on a good pitch, the EPP bowlers soon found a rhythm and Chris Woakes was particularly impressive taking 3-23 in his opening spell.
Woakes was supported well by tight and effective bowling by Liam Plunkett. Following a sharp run out of the effective looking Marcus Stoinis, it was the introduction of spin that sent WAIIs into free-fall. James Tredwell took 2-29 in his 9 over spell, but it was young Hampshire bowler Danny Briggs, making his EPP debut, who caught the eye with 4-9 off 5 overs.
As EPP sought to fast forward a match they could win before the scheduled lunch break, and an awesome display of power hitting by Craig Kieswetter saw him score all of England’s first 50 runs – surely a rare occurrence.
Kieswetter brought up his 50 taking the score to 51-1. Spare a thought for Andrew Gales who was run out in a mix-up with Kieswetter, but Adam Lyth and particularly James Hildreth looked solid as England pursued their target. Despite the loss of Lyth and Taylor, Hildreth continued his largely untroubled tour – finishing 20 not out and with a victory on his debut as an EPP captain.
ECB Performance Director David Parsons said:
“This was an impressive bowling performance by the Performance Programme players which set-up what proved to be a powerful win. Chris Woakes was particularly impressive for EPP, and we were especially pleased to see Danny Briggs pick-up 4 wickets in his first match of this tour to reinforce his reputation as a young player of clear potential”.
“Craig Kieswetter’s domination and clean hitting reminded everyone of his capabilities at the top of the order”.
Take a look at the scorecard here – WA v EPP scorecard [EXCEL, 36k]