PAARL: England took control of Group 2 in the Women’s T20 World Cup when they beat Ireland by four wickets for a second successive win here at Boland Park on Monday.
Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone showed why she was in demand at the Indian Women’s Premier League auction when she sparked an Ireland collapse to 105 all out.
Ecclestone, bought by the Uttar Pradesh Warriorz franchise for the equivalent of about $220,000 earlier on Monday, took three for 13.
Another WPL target, Alice Capsey, bought by Delhi Capitals for $91,000, set up an early finish by hitting 51 off 22 balls in England’s reply.
The 18-year-old’s dismissal was the first of five wickets which fell for 33 runs before victory was secured.
England, committed to an attacking approach, boosted their net run rate following a similarly convincing win against the West Indies on Saturday.
Nat Sciver-Brunt, who attracted the joint-highestIPL price for an overseas player, had a quiet day, bowling two overs for 20 runs and being dismissed for five. She was bought by Mumbai Indians for $390,000 dollars.
Ireland batted first and were doing reasonably well at 80 for two when Ecclestone had top-scorer Gaby Lewis caught at deep square leg for 36.
Ecclestone trapped Eimear Richardson leg before wicket with her next delivery and Ireland were on a slide. They lost their last eight wickets for 25 runs.
Fellow slow bowlers, leg-spinner Sarah Glenn and off-spinner Charlie Dean, took three and two wickets respectively.
SRI LANKA WIN AGAIN
On Sunday, Harshitha Samarawickrama made a composed half-century to guide Sri Lanka to a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh at Newlands in Cape Town for their second successive victory at the global event.
Left-handed opening batter Harshitha made 69 not out and shared an unbeaten 105-run partnership with Nilakshi de Silva (41 not out).
They enabled Sri Lanka to survive an early scare in pursuit of a modest Bangladesh total of 126 for eight.
Sri Lanka, who beat the hosts on the same Newlands pitch on Friday, were rattled when 18-year-old medium-pace bowler Marufa Akter took three wickets without conceding a run to reduce them to 25 for three in the sixth over.
Akter, whose previous five international matches had yielded only three wickets, struck with her third delivery when she had Athapaththu caught at midwicket.
In her next over she dismissed Vishmi Gunarathne and Anushka Sanjeewani with successive deliveries.
Harshitha and De Silva had to rebuild on a pitch of uneven bounce and they took the total to 49 after 10 overs, increasing the tempo as Bangladesh were unable to make any further breakthroughs.
Bangladesh lost five wickets for 24 runs in the closing stages of their innings.
Shamima Sultana (20), Sobhana Mostary (29) and captain Nigar Sultana (28) all scored briskly but the innings crumbled after the skipper was caught at midwicket off off-spinner Oshadi Ranasinghe in the 16th over.
Ranasinghe was Sri Lanka’s most successful bowler, taking three for 23.
Summarised scores:
England bt Ireland by four wickets.
IRELAND 105 in 18.2 overs (G. Lewis 36; S. Ecclestone 3-13, C. Dean 2-26, S. Glenn 3-19); ENGLAND 107-6 in 14.2 overs (A. Capsey 51; C. Murray 3-15).
Sri Lanka bt Bangladesh by seven wickets.
BANGLADESH 126-8 in 20 overs (Sobhana Mostary 29; O. Ranasinghe 3-23, C. Athapaththu 2-19); SRI LANKA 129-3 in 18.2 overs (H. Samarawickrama 69 not out, N. de Silva 41 not out; Marufa Akter 3-23).
Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2023
