IRE W vs PAK W T20Is | Orla Prendergast’s all-round performance powers Ireland in opener

‌Ireland Women continued their winning run at home with an 11-run victory over Pakistan Women in the first T20I in Dublin on Wednesday. Orla Prendergast’s all-round performance saw the home side go 1-0 up in the three-match series after notching up their sixth consecutive win at home.

After being put into bat first at the Clontarf Cricket Club Ground, Ireland lost skipper Gaby Lewis, who was cleaned up by her counterpart Fatima Sana in the third over. But fellow opener Amy Hunter and Prendergast reconstructed the home side’s innings, finishing the powerplay at a decent score of 48/1. They added 45 runs in six overs before Hunter was dismissed by Nashra Sandhu. The wicketkeeper-batter hit five fours to top score for the hosts with 37 off 30 balls. Prendergast (29) was the next to depart, three overs later, after scoring a 26-ball 29. Leah Paul’s innings gave some momentum to the Ireland innings in the middle phase. The all-rounder hit four boundaries to notch up 28 runs at a strike rate of 147.36 and also added valuable runs with Prendergast and Laura Delany. But her dismissal triggered a collapse as the hosts slumped from 108/3 to 142 all out in a matter of five overs. Fatima led the Pakistan bowling effort from the front with an excellent spell of 4/26 in four overs.

Pakistan’s pursuit started on the wrong note with both openers Muneeba Ali and Gull Feroza departing cheaply within the fourth over. The visitors ended the powerplay at 37/2 with Sidra Amin and Aliya Riaz looking good after promising starts. But the home side stormed back into the match to send back both set batters in the space of three balls. Amin (15) was caught by Lewis off medium pacer Ava Canning in the fifth ball of the ninth over, while Riaz (14) was dismissed by Cara Muray in the first ball of the 10th over. The visitors never recovered from that as 42/4 became 70/6 at the end of the 13th over. Though Pakistan’s lower middle order, led by Natalia Pervaiz, offered some resistance, the writing was on the wall. Pervaiz top-scored for the side, scoring three fours and a six during her 23-ball 29 with Rameen Shamim (27) and Fatima (14) offering admirable support. But it was too late for the visitors as they reached 131/9 at the end of 20 overs, still short of Ireland’s target by 11 runs. Prendergast complemented her batting effort with a spell of 3/28 in four overs, while medium pacer Jane Maguire chipped in with two wickets.