Jones powers England A to an easy win

England A 100 for 3 (Lumb 30*, Gidman 21*) beat Malaysia CA 99 (Jones 4-22) by seven wickets
Scorecard

England completed a second win against a Malaysian Cricket Association Invitation XI at the Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur, with Simon Jones taking another important step back to full fitness. The Glamorgan pace bowler took four for 22 from his six overs as England A won by seven wickets with time to spare.

It was perhaps a strange decision by the home captain to bat first on winning the toss, even though his side was bolstered by the inclusion of three members of the touring party. They were soon in trouble with Graham Wagg, who took three wickets in the opening game of the tour, claiming two wickets in the second over of this match when there was only a single on the board.

Bilal Shafayat was one of the players guesting for the MCA, but he was bowled by Sajid Mahmood for four and Ed Smith was dismissed in similar manner by Graham Napier for 12. That was when Jones came into the attack to take the next four wickets in quick succession, including Simon Francis, bowled for a duck.

Shaftab Khalid claimed the wicket of Sarath, the one Malaysian batsman who held up England A's march through the opposition, before Mahmood claimed the final wicket and the home side were bowled out for 99 in 28.1 overs.

England A took only 23.3 overs to knock off the runs. Although Scott Newman and Kadeer Ali fell cheaply, Kevin Pietersen set about the attack in muscular fashion with three fours and a six in his stay of 31 balls producing 30 runs. When he went, it was left to Michael Lumb and the captain, Alex Gidman, to knock off the required runs without further alarm.

The match won, and with a full house expected for the afternoon, the sides then played an unofficial match of 25 overs a side. England A scored 198 for five in their innings, with MCA 90 for six when the rain came to force an abandonment.