Sport

Ireland men’s and women’s cricket sides bounce back in style

Leah Paul and Paul Stirling both impress with the bat in victories

File photo of Ireland’s Paul Stirling. Photo: Ben Whitely/Inpho

Nathan Johns
Thu Oct 7 2021 - 12:44

Ireland’s men’s and women’s cricket sides both bounced back from defeats earlier this week with resounding victories over the UAE and Zimbabwe respectively.

Opener Leah Paul top-scored for the women with an innings 95, setting up an Irish total of 286 for seven that proved good enough for a resounding 80-run win in their ODI series in Harare.

Paul was particularly prolific through the extra-cover region early on in her knock, as the left-handed opener put on 135 in an opening stand with Gaby Lewis. Lewis herself was bowled on 65 by Josephine Nkomo, breaking up the lengthy partnership in the 26th over, while skipper Laura Delany followed up her 88 in game one with a useful contribution of 35.

After the interval, Zimbabwe’s start to their innings was a touch circumspect as Ireland opened up with Jane Maguire and the left-arm spin of Paul. The Zimbabwe opening partnership of Chiedza Dhururu and Modester Mupachikwa went at a particularly low strike rate, their opening stand lasting into the 11th over where Mupachikwa was run out for the second consecutive game.

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Leg-spinner Cara Murray was once again the pick of the Irish attack, taking three for 56 off her 10 overs while fellow twirler Celeste Raack poached two wickets of her own at the cost of just 23 runs. Maguire also picked up her first international wicket when she bowled Nomvelo Sibanda around her legs.

Zimbabwe never really looked like threatening Ireland’s impressive total as wickets at regular intervals coupled with a slow run rate ensured a comfortable result. Nkomo’s unbeaten 70 was the only real sign of resistance as the hosts ended on 206 for nine, a result that sees Ireland level the series at 1-1 ahead of game three on Saturday.

Meanwhile in Dubai, an economical bowling performance set up the Irish men for a commanding victory of their own, winning as they did by seven wickets in the first game of their World T20 warm-up series against the UAE.

Curtis Campher made the hosts’ decision to bat first look questionable with a double-wicket maiden in the sixth over, putting Ireland in a commanding position from which they never looked back.

Reeling at 26 for three at the end of the powerplay thanks largely to Campher’s efforts, it took a late innings mini-revival of 26 off the final two overs just to get the UAE up to a total of 123 for seven.

Despite the late flurry, Ireland would have been delighted with their performance with the ball. Campher ended with the side’s best figures of three for 19, but Mark Adair and Ben White also chipped in with two wickets apiece. Josh Little’s economic four overs that only went for 19 also deserve mention.

Any nerves at chasing a low total were quickly dispelled as the opening pair of Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien essentially put the game to bed with a 90-run partnership. It is the 11th time these two have put on 50 or more for the first wicket in T20 internationals.

After somewhat unfortunately smashing his second delivery against Scotland earlier this week straight to a fielder, Stirling had a welcome return to form, offering a reminder of his class – not that we needed it – with a knock of 53 from 46 deliveries that contained six fours and two maximums.

When O’Brien fell for 46 the target sat at nine runs required off 10 balls, in theory an easy ask but the UAE had a sniff if they could pressure the new man to the crease. Campher, coming in at number five, soon quelled out any remaining doubts, hitting two quick boundaries to wrap up the victory with seven balls to spare.

Ireland will look to continue to build momentum ahead of the tournament as they take on the same opposition tomorrow at 6am Irish time.

FIRST T20 INTERNATIONAL

Dubai: UAE 123-7 (20 ovs) (M Usman 35; C Campher 3-19, B White 2-24, M Adair 2-29) lost to Ireland 124-3 (20 ovs) (P Stirling 53, K O'Brien 46; B Hameed 3-20) by seven wickets.

SECOND ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL

Harare: Ireland 286-7 (50 ovs) (L Paul 95, G Lewis 65, L Delany 35, S Kavanagh 34, O Prendergast 23) beat Zimbabwe 206-9 (50 ovs) (J Nkomo 70no; C Murray 3-56, C Raack 2-23) by 80 runs.