England continue their winning run with a four-wicket victory over a ‘young’ Ireland

Hosts England continued their winning run at the Women’s T20 World Cup, as they registered a four-wicket win over Ireland in a rain-delayed match in Southampton on Tuesday.

With Sophie Ecclestone spearheading the bowling attack, England restricted Ireland to 118 for 9. In reply, captain Nat-Sciver Brunt led from the front as England chased down the target in 17.3 overs.

It was always going to be a tough task for Ireland, the youngest side at the World Cup with an average age of 23, against an experienced English team reveling at the prospect of playing at home.

Opting to field first, the English bowlers made the most of overcast conditions to make early inroads. Both the Irish openers, Amy Hunter and Alana Dalzell, were back in the pavilion inside the first five overs. Captain Gaby Lewis also departed without troubling the scorers.

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Bowling a tight line and length, England kept the pressure on Ireland by choking the runs. They bowled a total of 60 dot balls, with Charlie Dean contributing 20 of them.

Dean was the most economical of the English bowlers, with 2 for 11 in her four overs, while the experienced Sophie Ecclestone finished with 3 for 22.

For Ireland, there were spells of sunshine that broke through the gloom. Even with her team reduced to 25 for 3, Orla Prendergast took the attack to England. She struck two fours off Ecclestone, starting with a late cut past backward point, in the sixth over to give them a boost. The budding innings, however, was cut short for 26 off 18, with four fours.

Later on, Louise Little made sure Ireland finished on a high. She hit four fours of Lauren Bell in the final over, including a flick through backward square leg on the last ball, to garner 17 runs. It was Ireland’s best over of the innings and took them to 118 for 9.

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On resumption, Ireland gave England a scare early on as they claimed three wickets in 10 balls to reduce the hosts to 35 for 3 inside the powerplay.

Aimee Maguire made early inroads with two wickets in the fifth over. The first of which was of Amy Jones, who mistimed the ball to mid-off only for Lewis to pocket it. Two balls later, the Maguire-Lewis combo struck again to dismiss Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who had led England to victory in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka.

In the next over, Prendergast castled Alice Capsey with a yorker.

Captain Sciver-Brunt (48) and Heather Knight stemmed the slide with a 64-run stand for the fourth wicket. They picked up the ones and twos, while punishing every loose ball, to keep the scoreboard ticking.

The partnership was broken by Prendergast as she trapped Knight leg before wicket for 26.

England had trouble closing out the match as Sciver-Brunt retired hurt just short of her half-century while Freya Kemp was run out. But they were within touching distance, and Dean and Gibson saw them through to 119/6 in 17.3 overs.

Brief scores: Ireland 118 for nine in 20 overs (Orla Prendergast 26, Louise Little 26 not out; Sophie Ecclestone 3/22, Dani Gibson 2/10, Charlie Dean 2/11) lost to England 119 for six in 17.3 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 48 retd hurt, Heather Knight 26; Aimee Maguire 2/23, Orla Prendergast 2/17).

England hopeful about skipper Sciver-Brunt

England are hopeful skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt has escaped injury after she was forced to retire during her innings against Ireland. Sciver-Brunt ‘retired out’ on 48 with the victory target in sight against Ireland in Southampton, with the side remaining unbeaten at the T20 World Cup with a four-wicket triumph over their European rival.

But it was the circumstances that saw Sciver-Brunt leave the field with just nine runs required that stole the headlines and the England skipper clarified the move post-match.

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“It was just precautionary,” Sciver-Brunt said. “I felt a bit of tightness in my calf so I thought I’d better not push it.”

Sciver-Brunt will now undergo a scan on her calf on Wednesday to determine the extent of the injury, with the side hoping she will be fit for England’s next encounter at the T20 World Cup against Scotland in Leeds on Saturday.

Nat Sciver-Brunt will now undergo a scan on her calf on Wednesday to determine the extent of the injury, with the side hoping she will be fit for England’s next encounter at the T20 World Cup against Scotland in Leeds on Saturday. Pics: ICC

Former England skipper Heather Knight fronted the post-match media conference after the victory over Ireland and the veteran indicated more will be known after scans on Wednesday. “I think it just happened in the moment, felt a bit of tightness in the same calf as before, but that’s all we know,” Knight said.

“Just a bit of caution from her to get herself off the field and it’ll get assessed, I’m sure, over the next few days and fingers crossed she’ll be OK.”

Sciver-Brunt hurt her calf in April and sat out the recent T20I series against New Zealand and India due to the injury as fellow all-rounder Charlie Dean stepped up and performed the role as captain with aplomb. Dean could once again take the captaincy reins if Sciver-Brunt does miss any action throughout the tournament, with Knight hopeful that her current skipper is back to take on Scotland on Saturday.

“We’re really hopeful that she’ll be fine, but I think one thing we have shown over the last couple of series, we’ve been able to do things really well without Nat,” Knight noted. “I think Deano (Dean) did a brilliant job stepping into Nat’s shoes. Fingers crossed she’s all fine, but we’ll obviously cross that bridge and hope, if we have to.”

“Completely depends on nature of her injury. Obviously, if she’s fit and fine, she’ll be desperate to play, and I think it’s important to keep building as a side. And yeah, if she’s fit, she’ll play. If she’s not fit, I guess she won’t.”