Ireland Levels T20I Series Against England in Nail-Biting Victory
Ireland’s women’s cricket team defeated England in an exciting match, winning by five wickets to tie the Twenty20 International series.
On September 15, 2024, in a thrilling final-over match at Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland defeated England’s total of 169 thanks to Orla Prendergast’s outstanding 80 from 51 balls.
Key Performances and Match Results
Ireland 170 for 5 (Prendergast 80) beat England 169 for 8 (Beaumont 40) by 5 wickets.
Match Analysis
Ireland’s women won the T20I leg of their series against England in Clontarf in an exciting – and well-known – manner. Mady Villiers repeated her valiant efforts at the end of the third One-Day International last week, but the match was again derailed by a disastrous fielding error.
Though Villiers had again claimed back-to-back bowled dismissals to leave Ireland needing two runs from two balls with a new batter on strike, on Wednesday in Belfast, she pulled off three wickets in as many balls, including a run-out, only for Hollie Armitage’s final-ball misfield to gift Ireland their winning boundary.
But after driving her first ball straight back at Villiers, who gathered and fled when she might have had time to turn and run for the stumps, Christina Coulter Reilly managed to scramble the winning runs and conceded two overthrows, allowing Ireland to finish the campaign with their second nail-biting victory in five games.
It was, nevertheless, a deserved triumph for Ireland – in particular for Orla Prendergast, whose 80 from 51 balls was the day’s stand-out performance. England’s inexperienced line-up had few answers while she was organizing the chase, with strong backing first from Gaby Lewis and then from Leah Paul. At 163 for 2, with seven runs required from seven balls, there was only one likely winner.
But Kate Cross put on one final memorable performance to finish her first series as England skipper. She took out Amy Hunter with the fourth ball of Ireland’s innings, and then, with her last delivery of the visit, she bowled Prendergast, to put all the burden on Ireland’s middle order.
Sarah Forbes’ first ball off Villiers struck the boundary following a single from Paul, bringing the required score down to two runs from four balls. In response, Villiers prismed out with the very next ball and then added a first-ball wicket from Jane Maguire, giving England a great chance to win the series 2-0. It was not meant to be.
Earlier, urged to bat first, England had scored a challenging 169 for 8. Tammy Beaumont top-scored with 40 from 34, and Bryony Smith followed her matchwinning fifty in Saturday’s inaugural Twenty20 International with 28 from 26 balls in an opening partnership of 44.
With two wickets in as many overs to stifle England’s explosive finish and a pair of run-outs in the final over, Prendergast gave notice of a fine all-around showing. Paige Scholfield scored 34 from 31 to infuse some urgency through the middle overs. Those unaccounted-for runs would turn out to be critical.
At the conclusion of the game, Prendergast told TNT Sports, “I knew if I got myself in and got a start, I would convert and accelerate towards the back end.” It was the final game we had for the summer. What drove us was the desire to end with a truly outstanding performance that demonstrated our talent.”
“We’ve kept ourselves in the game and gave ourselves a chance to win,” Cross stated. However, Mady’s overs and close finishes appear to be this week’s recurring themes.
“Orla batted brilliantly, exerting a great deal of pressure on us.” She continued to discover the boundary despite our best efforts to keep her off strike. We could have won that game right there in the last moments, but sometimes you just have to accept that someone batted well.
“People react strangely to pressure.” When Mady gets that chance again, 99 times out of 100, she just bolts and takes off the bails.”
