By: Adeel Khursheed
Ireland secured a dramatic coup against England in the third one-day international at Stormont, overcoming the loss of three wickets in Mady Villiers’ final over as Alana Dalzell struck her first ball for four to pull off a three-wicket win.
Hollie Armitage had successfully run out Una Raymond-Hoey earlier in the over but fumbled the final ball at long-on, allowing it to trickle over the boundary and seal Ireland’s victory.
The win was only Ireland’s second ever victory against England in any form of cricket – the first was in 2001 – and came two days after England pulled off a record 275-run triumph against their hosts.
“We were outplayed,” England’s captain, Kate Cross, said. “I’ve given Hollie a hug. These things happen. When you have close games like that, there’s loads of things that contributed to us not winning that game.
“I don’t think we fielded very well and we didn’t bowl as well as we could have done upfront.”
In a rain-reduced, 22-overs-a-side affair, Ireland’s captain, Gaby Lewis, had struck a crucial 72 and shared 50 partnerships with the 18-year-old prodigy Amy Hunter and with Leah Paul, bringing her side to within 18 runs of victory. Ireland were helped along by some wayward bowling from England, who conceded a total of 14 wides.
Lauren Filer snatched two wickets in the 19th over through sheer pace – Lewis nicked one behind and Paul top-edged a pull to Bess Heath behind the stumps – and with eight runs needed from the final over, Villiers bowled Alice Tector and Jane Maguire, but Ireland somehow still snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Earlier, the left-arm spinner Aimee Maguire, who celebrated her 18th birthday on Monday and was playing in only her seventh one-day international, returned remarkable figures of five for 19 in 3.5 overs, the fourth best ever for Ireland in women’s ODIs.
Maguire, a recent beneficiary of Cricket Ireland’s decision in 2022 to introduce professional contracts for their women’s team, was battling persistent heavy rain and a wet ball, but nonetheless became the architect of an England collapse in which they lost five wickets for 19 runs in 24 balls.
Tossing it up, Maguire tempted the England batters into going for huge shots but had Freya Kemp and Cross stumped, bowled Paige Scholfield and Filer, and had Villiers pulling straight to deep midwicket. “I just had a plan and stuck to it,” Maguire said. “Keeping to the fuller length, making them play straight.
“It’s such a big deal [for Irish cricket]. Winning this game today gives us so much confidence.”
Fresh from her record-breaking 150 on Monday, Tammy Beaumont – named player of the series for her 212 runs across the three matches – once again looked a cut above the rest, driving down the ground and executing the ramp shot with ease to bring up a 39-ball half-century. But three balls later she was caught at deep midwicket trying a little bit too hard to move the score along.
At 118 for seven there was a real risk that England might capitulate completely, but a fiery cameo of 17 from 13 balls by Ryana MacDonald-Gay moved their total into the realms of respectability.
Cricket Ireland had only just fitted in a toss, won by England, before the rain fell. Both captains had to take shelter under a shared umbrella to explain their team choices, and it was four and a half hours before Cross could make good her decision to bat first.
Even then showers peppered play, leading to a further reduction to 22 overs apiece. England’s batters spent the day kicking around a football between the showers to keep warm, but when the time came to exercise their cricketing skills they were less successful, bowled out for 153 with seven balls of their available 22 overs going unused.
Cross, though, said she was pleased with her side’s overall performance, after they finished with a 2-1 series win in the ODI leg of the tour. “We’ve come over here with a very young side and a very inexperienced side. We’ve qualified for the World Cup, so we’ve done the job that we set out to do,” she said.
