Ireland secured their first Twenty20 victory against England at Clontarf Cricket Club on Sunday, ending a record run off the penultimate ball after Mady Villiers tried to force a run-out, missed the stumps and let the two Irish batsmen run over.
Orla Prendergast had hit a career-best 80 from 51 balls, but was bowled by Kate Cross off the last ball of the 19th over, with Ireland needing seven runs from the last six balls.
After Leah Paul managed a single off the first ball of Villiers’ 20th over, Sarah Forbes just cleared the head of Hollie Armitage at extra cover to send the other to the boundary, but Villiers then bowled Forbes and Ava Canning with successive deliveries. Christina Coulter Reilly then knocked the fifth ball back to the bowler and knocked down the pitch, and Villiers’ wild shy of the stumps allowed her to race back for a second run, securing Ireland’s five-wicket win with a ball to spare.
Ireland captain Gaby Lewis said she was “absolutely ecstatic” about the victory, which was shown live on free-to-air television in Ireland. “It shows the direction we’re going in with women’s sport,” she said. “With the extra eyes on the game we can hopefully expand cricket in Ireland.”
Both captains called for more regular meetings between the two sides, who have faced each other just five times in the 20-over format. “We need the next tour to be longer,” Cross said. “Ireland are a team playing very fearless cricket at the moment.”
Earlier, Tammy Beaumont hit 40 from 34 balls – her highest score in the format since September 2021 – as England reached what looked an impregnable 169 for eight in their 20 overs. That was just seven runs less than they had scored in the opening match on Saturday, which they won by 67 runs.
In reply, Lewis put on a 79-run partnership with Prendergast for the second wicket, putting England’s bowlers and Cross’s captaincy under real pressure as they beat England’s own powerplay by two runs.
Ryana MacDonald-Gay, on her T20 debut eight days after receiving her ODI cap, took out Lewis’ middle stump with a wobble-steam delivery, but Prendergast went on to a 39-ball half-century and shared a second 50-run partnership with Paul.
Ireland were still left needing 42 runs from the last four overs, which looked a big ask until Prendergast creamed Charis Pavely and Georgia Adams for four consecutive boundaries down the ground.
England had two chances to remove Paul in the 18th over – Adams laid down a tough return catch off his own bowling, before Seren Smale fumbled a surprise opportunity – while Prendergast was also brought down by Cross, before the standing England captain bowled her next ball.
“Pressure does very funny things to people,” Cross said. “What it does is highlight how calm you need to be. We had another debutant today, we had a few girls playing their second game for England. In regional cricket when there aren’t people there you can sometimes get away [mistakes]but in international cricket it is highlighted.”
England finish the tour having featured in a total of six one-day internationals and five T20 internationals – something Cross recognized as an invaluable opportunity for the next generation.
after newsletter campaign
“A lot of these girls have bright futures ahead of them in international cricket – they’ve all shown at parts of the tour what they can do and why they’re here, and that’s been really exciting for us,” she said.
Ireland had again put England in after winning the toss, but openers Beaumont and Bryony Smith resumed at a more leisurely pace than on Saturday – a 44-run powerplay compared to a 65-run one.
England’s innings picked up steam through the middle overs, when Beaumont found its stride in a 50 partnership from just 27 balls for the third wicket with Paige Scholfield. After falling for a duck on debut last Saturday, Scholfield took the chance here to show her muscle, sending Freya Sargent’s off-spin sailing back over her head for the only six of the day.
The pair fell in successive overs at the death – both caught trying to make further big shots down the ground – while Ireland tightened up their field to ensure Pavely and Issy Wong were both run out in the final over.
Quick guide
How do I sign up for sports news alerts?
Show
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play Store on Android by searching for “The Guardian”.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re using the latest version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon) and then Notifications.
- Enable sports notifications.
Prendergast’s badly chafed hand, an injury she sustained while in England for a recent three-match stint with the Blaze in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, has plagued her throughout this series. It was no different on Sunday: play had to be paused for five minutes while the wound was cleaned and dressed.
But it was worth the wait for Ireland: Prendergast bowled Armitage for a duck, sent Adams stumping out of the ground and went on to play the match-winning hand with the bat.
#Orla #Prendergast #soldiers #Ireland #claim #historic #T20 #win #England