Skipper Laura Delany and Orla Prendergast’s all-round show powers Ireland to a comprehensive victory as the visitors whitewash Zimbabwe in the T20I.
The Ireland women led by skipper Laura Delany sealed a comfortable 9-wicket victory in the 4th T20I. The game was eventually reduced to an 8-overs-per-side contest courtesy of rain. Orla Prendergast was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant match-winning performance (22 off 12 balls) with the bat at a strike rate of 183.33.
Zimbabwe skipper Mary-Anne Musonda won the toss and opted to field first. After being inserted to bat first, Ireland got off to a poor start losing their opening batter Amy Hunter in the 3rd over of the innings. Kelis Ndhlovu provided the first breakthrough for Zimbabwe. Orla Prendergast joined Gaby Lewis at the crease and the duo led the recovery for the visitors with a 64-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before Nomvelo Sibanda picked up the wicket of Gaby Lewis to provide the 2nd breakthrough for Zimbabwe. Skipper Laura Delany joined Orla Prendergast at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 37-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before Precious Marange picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Laura Delany to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side.
Orla Prendergast soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side. The visitors ended up with a total of 138/7 in their quota of overs as they lost their next three wickets for just 33 runs. Gaby Lewis (42 off 33 balls), Orla Prendergast (42 off 34 balls), and skipper Laura Delany (18 off 15 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Ireland. Kelis Ndhlovu (3/20), Nomvelo Sibanda (2/11), and Precious Marange (2/27) were the top performers with the ball for Zimbabwe.
Chasing a target of 139, the Zimbabwe openers got off to a solid start as the openers stitched a 77-run opening partnership at a scoring rate of almost 7 runs an over. Leah Paul cleaned up Kelis Ndhlovu to provide the much-needed first breakthrough for Ireland. Pellagia Mujaji and the duo stitched another crucial 22-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before Orla Prendergast picked up the massive wicket of the opposition skipper Mary-Anne Musonda to provide the crucial 2nd breakthrough for Ireland.
The home side suffered a massive collapse as they lost their next 6 wickets for just 25 runs and as a result, they were restricted to 124/8 in their quota of overs. The home side eventually ended up 14 runs short of the target. Skipper Mary-Anne Musonda (52 off 43 balls) and Kelis Ndhlovu (32 off 38 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Zimbabwe. Skipper Laura Delany (3/17) and Orla Prendergast (3/24) were the top performers with the ball for Ireland.
Orla Prendergast was awarded the Player of the Match for her match-winning effort (42 off 34 balls) with the bat and (3/24) with the ball. She played a crucial role in helping Ireland complete a comprehensive whitewash in the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe.
The wicket-keeper batter Amy Hunter was awarded the Player of the Series for her exceptional performances with the bat throughout the T20I series. She was the leading run-scorer of the series with 240 runs at a strike rate of 136.36 and a humongous average of 80 in 5 innings. Her tally of runs included one half-century and a century.