Ireland (137-2; 16.2 overs)(Orla Prendergast 75*, Laura Delany 36*; Katherine Fraser 2-31) beat Scotland (133-6; 20 overs)(Saskia Horley 52; Arlene Kelly 2-12) by eight wickets.
Orla Prendergast’s maiden international half-century helped Ireland’s women cricketers cruise home to an eight-wicket victory in the first outing of their three-match T20I series against Scotland at The Grange.
After electing to field first at the toss at the Edinburgh venue, Ireland restricted their hosts well, Georgina Dempsey overcoming an expensive opening five deliveries to get Ailsa Lister to spoon one to mid on before Arlene Kelly bowled Abbi Aitken-Drummond - both wickets coming inside the powerplay.
Eimear Richardson marked her return to the side with a wicket after travelling over from New Zealand, her off-breaks accounting for Scotland skipper Sarah Bryce as she was bowled in Richardson’s first over.
From there the Scots recovered a touch as Saskia Horley hit seven boundaries before being bowled by Kelly for 52 off 42 deliveries, while Priyanaz Chatterji had a decent, three-boundary cameo of 15 off eight balls.
Scotland’s total of 133-6 looked on the light side, and so it proved as Prendergast (75 not out) and captain Laura Delany (36 not out) put on 99 for the fourth wicket, steering Ireland to a comfortable victory inside 17 overs.
It was in many ways the innings Ireland’s coaching staff has been waiting for from Prendergast ever since she was moved up from the lower order to number three in July. As arguably Ireland’s best boundary hitter, the Dragons all-rounder had previously been used in a late innings finisher role, most notably on last year’s successful ODI tour to Zimbabwe.
However, in T20 cricket, the powers that be have determined that having one of their better players facing as many balls as possible is a better plan of action.
It was a move that bore fruit on Monday as, after Gaby Lewis and Amy Hunter - the latter in her new role atop the order - now that Leah Paul has dropped down - departed inside the first four overs, Prendergast remained positive despite Ireland being two down for 38 in the face of a middling total, the sort which has been this side’s undoing in recent times.
Two of Prendergast’s first ten deliveries went to the boundary as she finished with 11 fours and one maximum, the pick of the bunch a slog sweep over mid wicket off Katherine Fraser’s off-spin.
If Prendergast’s strike-rate of 167 embodied the fearless attitude coach Ed Joyce wants to impart into this Ireland side, Delany’s more sedate knock - much of it spent at a strike rate under a run a ball - offered an air of solidity that shut the door on Scotland’s hopes of sparking a collapse. Not that she can’t match the boundary hitting capabilities of her teammates, she ultimately found the rope four times in her effort of 36 off 35 balls.
With Lewis and Hunter still to fire, all of a sudden this Irish top four looks aggressive and well balanced with enough players entering form to be a source of confidence ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup qualifiers.
