Ireland’s women exit at the hands of classy India
IRELAND, as expected, bowed out of the Women’s World Twenty20 with a game still to play, after losing to India by 52 runs.
The Irish bowlers fought back superbly to restrict the free-scoring Indians to just 36 from the last five overs but a total of 145-6 was always going to be too many for a batting line-up which continues to struggle.
For the second successive game, only Clare Shillington and Isobel Joyce reached double figures but, frustratingly, were dismissed for the second successive game in the 20s and 30s respectively.
India put on 67 for the first wicket but player of the match Mithali Raj, who scored 51, was dropped twice, the first from a reverse sweep when on nine.
The second wicket fell at 107 in the 15th over and a stunning catch by Shauna Kavanagh at deep extra cover in the next over gave Ireland the impetus to enjoy their best overs of the tournament. Lucy O’Reilly (1-32) and Kim Garth (2-22), who also completed a run-out, took wickets to add to earlier successes for captain Laura Delany (1-21) and Eimear Richardson (1-27).
But despite Shillington (23 off 23 balls) getting her usual fast start and Joyce scoring 33 off 38 balls, Ireland still faced 37 ‘dot balls’ in the first 10 overs and lost six wickets for 23 runs in the last 32 balls to finish on 93-8. JACK Leach says England’s spinners must be more patient second time around if they are to win the second Test at Pallekele and secure a series win over Sri Lanka.
The hosts had the better of the second day as former Coleraine professional Roshen Silva (85) and Dimuth Karunaratne (63) formed the spine of a solid 336 all out that left England 46 runs behind.
Joe Root’s spin trio of Leach, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid bowled 76 overs, sharing eight wickets between them, but struggled for line and length at times as the tourists endured several long barren spells where wickets were hard to come by, something Leach blames on impatience.
“I thought I could have put a few more balls in the right areas. On these wickets you have to be extra patient, always asking questions of the batter,” said Leach.
“I feel I could have done that a little better. Something I have to take away and learn from.
“I liked seeing it spin but sometimes you bowl a lot of balls that miss the outside edge. Last night with a hard ball it felt like maybe it was doing things a little bit quicker.
“We’re feeling good about the fact we’re bowling last on that wicket and feel if we can pressure them tomorrow with our batting then we feel that we can win the game.” SUNDAY’S second Kirk Cup semi-final between Cookstown and Annadale at Shaw’s Bridge has been postponed due to a bereavement.
The tie was due to follow the Banbridge and Lisnagarvey showdown at the same venue but a Cookstown request to have the game put off was accepted, as the bereaved is the grandfather of three of the players and also the father-in-law of coach Michael Haycock.
The game will be rearranged for later this month, possibly in midweek.
Annadale booked their place in the semi-final with Tuesday’s