2nd T20 : Ireland Lost by 45 Runs, even Kim Garth’s All-round performance could not help Ireland Women save the series

After losing the first match of the 3 match T20 series, the second match started with Ireland women hoping to win and save the series but the hiccup of captain Laura Delany missing the match owing to her injury must have left the team in apprehension. In the same vein as the first match, West Indies women won the toss and elected to bat first. 

Openers Hayley Matthews and Britney Cooper were on crease to open the innings for Windies Women. Kim Garth was leading Ireland team in the absence of Laura Delany. She was consistent with her great form as she started by taking a catch on her own delivery in the 4^th over and forced Cooper to depart for 20 runs. After 13 overs, West Indies Women had made more than 100 runs with a loss of 2 wickets. Kim Garth took 2 wickets of Stacy-Ann King and Shemaine Campbelle in a single over and the guests ended the 16^th over at 118 runs for a loss of 4 wickets. The next two overs, Chedean Nation and Kycia Knight too lost their wickets but it did not stop flow of the runs. 16 crucial more runs were added to the scoreboard in the last over and Windies Women ended the innings at 157 for a loss of 6 wickets after 20 overs.

To chase the target of 158 runs, the openers Lewis Gaby and Mary Waldron walked down the field to the crease. Gathering 24 runs in 4 fours, Ireland women got their first shock as Lewis Gaby departed after contributing 11 runs in 11 balls. Kim Garth came to bat at Number 3. Ireland women finished their 8 overs of batting with 43 runs on the scoreboard with a loss of one wicket.  Mary Waldron departed in the next over. The flow of wickets and the slow run rate made Ireland to only score 67 runs for a loss of 6 wickets after 15 overs. 37 runs were added in the next 4 overs and by the end of the 19^th over the score was 104-6. The last over saw Kim Garth scoring her first ever T20 International half-century as she played an innings of unbeatable 51 runs from 48 balls. Ireland finished the innings at 112-6 and lost the match by 45 runs. Kim Garth’s taking 3 wickets and then going on to score a half-century spoke volumes of how hard she tried to save her team from the series loss but the West Indies Women outplayed Ireland women in the second match too. The last match of the series will be played on 29^th May.

Brief Scores:
West Indies women won the match by 45 runs.
West Indies Women: 157/6 (20) ; Ireland Women: 112/6