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USA win in Johor

Claiming three points in this U19 Women's World Cup clash

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JOHOR, Malaysia – With rain threatening early on, USA put in a dominant display to take all three points in what was the first match completed in Group B at the ICC U19 Women’s World Cup.

Upon winning a second coin toss in a row, captain Niamh MacNulty opted immediately to bat first at the Johor Academy Ground in southern Malaysia.

Overnight rain had threatened the clash but conditions had improved sufficiently for play to start on time.

Bad weather had so far meant that the two previous Group B games had both been rained off, adding extra importance to all the remaining games and the points on offer.

Ireland attacked from the outset with Alice Walsh (16 off 12) leading the charge. However a slower outfield from Saturday’s match against England appeared to now make boundaries harder to find.

USA and seamer Isani Vaghela in particular now capitalised on conditions to suffocate Ireland’s scoring options which slowly increased pressure on the batting side.

Lara McBride (13 off 22) and Abbi Harrison (13 off 23) looked to lead a fightback with ten overs to go, but their wickets soon made hopes of a recovery much slimmer.

Now with ball in hand, Ireland needed wickets quick and looked to almost have their wish with a top edge chance in the deep from Chetna Reddy Pagydyala off the bowling Freya Sargent in the second over.

McBride made good ground and dived forward to give herself the best possible chance but couldn’t quite get under it. Rebecca Lowe then similarly couldn’t get hold of a half-chance in the ring off Jennifer Jackson.

McBride managed to prize out a wicket in her first over, but the USA batters had now sufficiently seized momentum to finish the game.

Attention quickly turns to Ireland’s final Group B game against Pakistan on Wednesday.