Ireland led by the stand-in skipper Gaby Lewis clinched the first ODI by three wickets to go 1-0 up in the three-match ODI series. The stand-in skipper Gaby Lewis was also ruled out of the ODI series courtesy of a quad strain. The young 22-year-old all-rounder Orla Prendergast took over the leadership duties for the first time at the international level.
The Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and opted to field first at the Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, Belfast. After being inserted to bat first Ireland got off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of Sarah Forbes in the 6th over of the innings. Achini Kulasuriya provided the first breakthrough for Sri Lanka. Wicket-keeper batter Amy Hunter joined Christina Coulter-Reilly at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 45-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to take their side past the 50-run mark.
Achini Kulasuriya returned and picked up the wicket of Christina Coulter-Reilly to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side. Orla Prendergast joined wicket-keeper batter Amy Hunter at the crease and the duo stitched a 22-run partnership for the 3rd wicket. Kavisha Dilhari picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Orla Prendergast to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Sri Lanka.
Leah Paul joined wicket-keeper batter Amy Hunter at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 57-run partnership for the 4th wicket to take their side past the 130-run mark. Skipper Chamari Athapaththu picked up the wicket of the wicket-keeper batter Amy Hunter to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side. She departed after scoring a well-made half-century.
Rebecca Stokell joined Leah Paul at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 114-run partnership for the 5th wicket to take their side close to the 250-run mark. Ireland eventually ended up with a total of 255/5 in their quota of 50 overs. Leah Paul (81 off 101 balls), wicket-keeper batter Amy Hunter (66 off 71 balls), Rebecca Stokell (53 off 61 balls), and Christina Coulter-Reilly (24 off 38 balls), were the top performers with the bat for Ireland.
Kavisha Dilhari (9-1-35-2), Achini Kulasuriya (10-1-48-2), Udeshika Prabodhani (10-0-47-0), and skipper Chamari Athapaththu (10-0-55-1) were the top performers with the ball for Sri Lanka. Chasing a target of 256, Sri Lanka got off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of their opening batter Vishmi Gunaratne in the 3rd over of the innings. Orla Prendergast provided the first breakthrough for Ireland.
Harshitha Samarawickrama joined skipper Chamari Athapaththu at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 42-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to take their side close to the 50-run mark. Jane Maguire picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Chamari Athapaththu to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side. Kavisha Dilhari joined Harshitha Samarawickrama at the crease and the duo stitched a massive 126-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side close to the 200-run mark.
The partnership brought the Sri Lankans into a solid position in the run chase. Freya Sargent picked up the wicket of Kavisha Dilhari to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Ireland. Wicket-keeper batter Anushka Sanjeewani soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 4th breakthrough for Ireland. Hasini Perera joined Harshitha Samarawickrama at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 37-run partnership for the 5th wicket to take their side past the 200-run mark.
Harshitha Samarawickrama was found short of her crease to provide the 5th breakthrough for Ireland. She completed her well-deserved, maiden century in the ODI format before getting dismissed. Sri Lanka were eventually bundled out for 240, falling short of the target by 15 runs with two overs to spare. Harshitha Samarawickrama (105 off 124 balls), Kavisha Dilhari (53 off 71 balls), Nilakshi Silva (24 off 21 balls), skipper Chamari Athapaththu (22 off 27 balls), and Hasini Perera (14 off 21 balls), were the top performers with the bat for Sri Lanka.
Arlene Kelly (8-0-41-3), Jane Maguire (8-0-33-2), Freya Sargent (10-0-46-1), Aimee Maguire (10-0-49-1), and stand-in skipper Orla Prendergast (6-0-30-1) were the top performers with the ball for Ireland. Leah Paul was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant match-winning performance (81 off 101 balls) with the bat. She played a crucial role in helping her side clinch the 2nd ODI and a historic series victory against Sri Lanka with one match to go in the series.
