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More winning form for Ireland women in England, this time in Twenty20 Cricket
Ireland women recorded two resounding wins from two to secure a spot in their group of the ECB T20 Championships before playing the last of their three group games.

Ireland women recorded two resounding wins from two to secure a spot in their group of the ECB T20 Championships before playing the last of their three group games.

First up were Bedfordshire who won the toss and elected to field. They were made to rue that decision straight away as Clare Shillington and Melissa Scott-Hayward didn’t hang around. The score stood at 72 by the end of the six-over powerplay with both players scoring freely.

Aggressive running between the wickets was a feature of Ireland’s batting throughout the day and no pair ran better than these two. Shillington was eventually caught on the long on boundary for 58 and this brought captain Isobel Joyce to the crease in the 12th over.

That was the last of the wickets as the Merrion pair batted the remaining overs, Joyce not out on 42 and Scott-Hayward unbeaten agonisingly short of her century on 97. The total of 218 was huge on a big ground with a very distinct hill on one end of the ground. The Bedfordshire bowlers ended with remarkably similar figures as each bowler was punished as much as the next. The five bowlers went for between 41 and 44 runs in their four overs, A Thind claiming the only wicket.

Kim Garth opened the bowling, her four overs going for a miserly 4 runs. Louise McCarthy, however, was the pick of the bowlers as she claimed three wickets from her allotment of four overs while going for just three runs. Bedfordshire lost only four wickets in their chase, happy to bat the overs for 45 runs – a massive 173 short of Ireland’s total.

The rain conveniently came and went in the break between matches and next up to face ireland was Cambridgeshire. This time Ireland captain Isobel Joyce won the toss and chose to bat first again.

This time Kim Garth opened up with Shillington but the veteran was forced to depart early after she was bowled by Morgan Burt. Rebecca Rolfe joined Garth who showed real class, scoring boundaries all around the ground. Garth, in fact, batted through and finished on 93, ably supported by Rolfe (9), Scott-Hayward (34), Mary Waldron (5) and Laura Delany (11).

Former Ireland U-21 international Nicky McCready was the pick of the Cambridgeshire bowlers, her four overs going for 20 of the eventual 175 total.

There was no time for a breather for Garth as she opened up with Joyce and both bowlers took two wickets for under 10 runs from their four overs. Laura Cullen was the most successful bowler, though, taking three wickets in her 2.3 overs for just four runs.

Cambridgeshire were all out for 54 (Karla Durham did not bat, retired hurt) and Ireland go into their final group game this morning knowing they will compete in the final this afternoon.

30 July

Ireland 218-1 (20 overs, C Shillington 58, M Scott-Hayward 97*, I Joyce 42*) beat Bedfordshire 46-4 (20 overs, L McCarthy 3-3) by 172 runs

Ireland 175-4 (20 overs, K Garth 93*, M Scott-Hayward 32) beat Hunts and Cambs 53-9 (20 overs, K Garth 2-5, I Joyce 2-9, L Cullen 2-4) by 122 runs

Norfolk play Ireland today before a final in the afternoon.

Kim Garth scored an unbeaten 93 in the second game
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