In Dublin, Ireland celebrated a wonderful five-wicket victory over England to square the two-match T20 series 1-1. While chasing a target of 123 runs, Ireland’s Laura Delany and Oola Prendergast were quite calm even in the most sniffing final over. The hit of Delany’s last ball, off which he connected for a boundary, gave Ireland its first traction over England in T20 thus heralding a new dawn in women’s cricket in Ireland.
This victory was historic in that it involved the first ever English side to be beaten by an Irish women’s side in an international T20. In Dublin, with Laura Delany and Orla Prendergast attacking, Ireland registered a complete turnaround and pulled off a five wicket victory over England leveling the two-match T20 series at 1-1. This is one milestone not only for Irish women’s cricket but for cricket in Ireland as a whole.
After winning the toss, the Irish captain decided to bowl first, heading off England in their progress once again was Smith and Beaumont, who put together 44 runs without the loss of a wicket. Their superb innings helped England reach a total of 169 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Even with this strong display, the Irish attack was able to restrict the England innings in the last few overs, however, a decent target was still possible to chase down.
The hosts were mostly able to thank Orla Prendergast for reaching their total target because the 22 years old all-rounder scored 80 runs in just 51 balls with 13 fours with brilliant stroke play.
England emerged victorious in the first T20 international hosted at Castle Avenue as they secured a victory over Ireland by a margin of 67 runs on Saturday.
The following day, their number three batter Seren Smale was out for 10 as she was caught by Ava Canning but Paige Scholfield (34 off 21) where the two added 59 runs with Beaumont and Georgia Adams scored 23 off 15 balls to improve the visitors’ total to what seemed a competitive score.
It almost appeared that England’s total would be sufficient when at the other end Ireland opener Amy Hunter fell for just one run. Hunter was the first casualty after she was caught by Hollie Armitage off the bowling of England captain Kate Cross. Admittedly, this early wicket applied pressure on the Irish batting; but the team settled down and replied; Gaby Lewis, Orla Prendergast and Leah Paul, however, almost brought Ireland to that win as their dominant contributions made history.
Lewis was crucial in Lewis’s innings, where she scored 38 thanks to a 79-run chain with Orla Prendergast. Then Prendergast batted with Leah Paul, who smashed 27 in 27 balls, and they added another 82 more runs. This was a crucial partnership which took Ireland close to victory. Their many efforts in the chase were all helpful in the haunting win for Ireland as they were determined along their way through the course to clinch a historic win.
The home side needed six runs off the last five balls but with the dismissal of Sarah Forbes and Ava Canning in consecutive deliveries, Mady Villiers made sure that the situation was well within control of the visitors.
Winning runs were made in dramatic fashion and were scored off the penultimate delivery. Sean Lister was on strike when Timothy Martin wronged a shot on the bowler, Mady Villiers. At one stage when a direct run out by de Villers was on offer, she was baffled as the ball hit her when it should have gone straight.
This of course was the over that brought Ireland victory after a fateful toss that sealed an historic win over England for the Irish team. The dramatic conclusion revealed the high-pressure nature of the match as for the first time ever, Ireland gained a T20 win over England on this day.