NEWS
Follow UsIt has been a week of amazing results for the Ireland Women’s cricket team as they first defeated the England women’s team in an ODI for the second time in history after a gap of 23 years on September 11, and then registered their maiden T20I victory over the same opposition on September 15 (Sunday).
In the second T20I of the two-match series, Orla Prendergast was the game-changer for the Irish women, who were beaten in the first game. While the Irish team had been bowled out for 109, chasing 177 in the first T20I, in the second one, they were set a target of 170 at the Clontarf Cricket Club, Dublin.
The Irish women lost Amy Hunter early on in the chase. However, skipper Gaby Lewis added 79 with Prendergast for the second wicket and gave some momentum to the side. However, it was the partnership (81 off 47 balls) for the third wicket between Prendergast and Leah Paul that kept Ireland believing that they could pull off the miraculous win.
After reaching her fifty in 39 balls, the 22-year-old accelerated big time and hit her next 30 runs in just 11 balls. Paul played a crucial knock of run-a-ball 27 and was there in the last over to see her team through even as Mady Villiers took two wickets in the last over, trying to defend six runs.
Ireland became the eighth nation to beat England in T20Is. The English women are only unbeaten against Thailand and Bangladesh in the format. The T20I series finished 1-1. While the England team was without their main players as they were preparing for the T20 World Cup, Ireland could not qualify for the global showpiece event starting October 3.
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