DTVHINDI
IRE-W vs SL-W: Sri Lanka women’s team is currently on a tour of Ireland. Two T20 and three ODI matches will be played between the two teams on this tour. The first match of the T20 series was played in Dublin on 11 August, where the Ireland women’s team had to face defeat. However, more than the win or loss, the thing that attracted the most attention in this match was the craze among Irish fans for women’s cricket.
More than 1100 people reached the ground to watch the first T20 match played between the two women’s teams. The presence of fans made this match more memorable for both the teams. None of the players present in both the teams expected that so many people would come to watch this match.
Talking about the match, the Irish team put up a strong fight in the match but eventually succumbed to the higher ranked opposition. However, the home team has expressed its ability to work with head coach Ed Joyce ahead of the second match of the series. There were encouraging glimpses. One positive for the team was that five of the top six Irish batsmen scored in double digits and looked comfortable at the crease.
On the negative side, Gabby Lewis (39 off 33 balls), Orla Prendergast (29 off 27 balls) and Laura Delany (25 off 21 balls) failed to convert their starts into big scores. In the end, Rebecca Stokely’s cameo (21* off 16) helped the Irish post a respectable total of 145-6.
After winning the toss and deciding to bowl first, the Sri Lankan team performed well in the first bowling. Then when it was time to chase the runs, Harshitha Samarawickrama scored 86* runs in 45 balls to give her team the win. The Sri Lankan team won this match by 7 wickets. The second match of the series will be played on the same ground on Tuesday.
