CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Sri Lanka took the honours in a hugely entertaining T20 World Cup warm-up game this morning as they beat Ireland Women by just two runs from the penultimate ball of the match.
Gaby Lewis scored a quick-fire 38 off 24 balls with the bat, while captain Laura Delany took 3-20 with the ball as Ireland went within a whisker of chasing down the 150-run target.
Ireland got off to a positive start in the run chase after Sri Lanka had posted 149-5, as Lewis powered a pull shot to the boundary in the first over. She followed that up by hitting three further boundaries in her first eight balls as Ireland quickly posted 24 runs inside three overs.
After Lewis fell, Ireland was 57-3 in the 8th over, while on the mark with the required run rate the Irish batters couldn’t afford to lose momentum. Laura Delany (21) and Louise Little (11) gave some impetus, before Alene Kelly (30) and Leah Paul led a late-overs charge at the target.
Their 31-run stand from 17 balls had Ireland within touching distance, but late wickets fell leaving a tight finish ahead. With three runs required from the final two balls, and with one wicket in hand, Jane Maguire drove a full ball hard back down the wicket which flicked the bowler’s hand and deflected onto the stumps stranding the hapless non-striker Kelly and handing Sri Lanka a two-run win.
Ireland Women will play their final World Cup warm-up game against Australia on Wednesday 8 February at the same venue, with a 10am start local time (8am Ireland time).
MATCH SUMMARY
Ireland Women v Sri Lanka Women, Stellenbosch University 1, Cape Town, South Africa, 6 February 2023
Sri Lanka 149-5 (20 overs; H Samarawickrama 56, V Gunarathne 36; L Delany 3-20)
Ireland 147 (19.5 overs; G Lewis 38, A Kelly 30; O Ranasinghe 3-22)
Sri Lanka won by 2 runs
Gerard Mulreaney
No
Connaught
