England has been on a roll in this ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 and their sizzling form continued in the Super Six stage as they pulled off a remarkable win versus Ireland in the Group 2 match at Potchefstroom. England won the toss and decided to bat first.
Grace Scrivens and Liberty Heap have been prolific openers and today was no different as they gave England the best possible start. They scored heavily in the powerplay and mostly dealt with boundaries. They were going bull blaze till the 10th and it was only in the 12 over that Aimee Maguire got the first breakthrough for Ireland dismissing Heap for a brilliant 42 off 29. Joining skipper Scrivens at the crease was Niamh Holland who was again scoring briskly. Scrivens was phenomenal and was striking the ball on a whole different level but was dismissed in the 15th over by Freya Sargent for an unbelievable 93 off 56 balls, an inning that witnessed 15 boundaries and 2 maximums. However, Seren Smale’s unbeaten 30 off 14 coupled with Niam Holland’s 34 helped England post 207/2 at the end of 20 overs.
The brilliant innings of Grace Scrivens ended by the Ireland bowler, Freya Sargent👏#CricketTwitter #U19T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/tl81cexLoK
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 21, 2023
Ireland on the other hand had the worst possible batting outing. Losing Rebecca Gough early on in the run-chase to a run-out, Annabel Squires was also sent back after Hannah Baker dismissed her for 9. Another run-out of Joanna Loughran worsened it for Ireland as they lost even Zara Craig for a two-ball duck. Abi Harrison and Siuin Woods tried to rebuild the Ireland innings but their dismissals by Seren Smale in the same over for 16 and 13 respectively and Freya Sargent was out for 6, so recovery was impossible for Ireland. Aimee Maguire inspired a revival with her 14 but with her dismissal and Jennifer Jackson getting dismissed; the match was done and dusted as England pulled off a remarkable win reducing their Irish neighbours to a paltry 86. Sophia Smale and Hannah Baker for their three-wicket hauls respectively were the picks of the bowlers.
Brief Scores: ENG- 207/2 in 20 overs (G Scrivens 93, L Heap 42; A Maguire 1/24) defeated IRE- 86 all out in 16.5 overs (A Harrison 16, A Maguire 14, S Woods 13; S Smale 3/11, H Baker 3/9)
🏴 England U19 won by 121 runs
🏴 England U19: 207-2 (20)
Grace Scrivens: 93 (56)
Liberty Heap: 42 (29)
Aimee Maguire 1-24🇮🇪 Ireland U19: 86 (16.5)
Abbi Harrison: 16 (23)
Aimee Maguire: 14 (15)
Hannah L Baker 3-9#CricketTwitter #U19T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/iW7FSn0Ztz— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 21, 2023
I am a first year postgraduate student pursuing a MA in Media and Communication Studies at Christ University, Bengaluru. I am a podcaster, blogger and an avid cricket fan. When not glued to cricket matches, you can find me submerged in books and thinking about cricket all the time.