England v Ireland: second women’s cricket one-day international – live | Cricket
Key events
34th over: Ireland 124-4 (Hunter 46, Paul 14) This is better from Hunter, who has decided to raise the volume. She skips down the pitch again and, this time, launches MacDonald-Gay over the leg-side for four.
33rd over: Ireland 117-4 (Hunter 40, Paul 13) Dean tweaks away for another quiet over.
32nd over: Ireland 114-4 (Hunter 39, Paul 12) Ryana MacDonald-Gay is back and has a shout for leg-before … but it looks as if it’s going down the leg-side. England decide to review … but it looks a waste. And it is, comfortably missing the stumps. Hunter closes the over with a welcome show of intent, coming down the pitch to drive gracefully through the covers. Cracking stroke.
31st over: Ireland 108-4 (Hunter 34, Paul 11) England aren’t giving Ireland anything loose, but the visitors surely need to risk it and play a few big shots. Hunter drives for a couple and Paul sweeps for two of her own.
30th over: Ireland 101-4 (Hunter 30, Paul 8) Villiers is five overs in and has figures of two for 10.
29th over: Ireland 100-4 (Hunter 29, Paul 8) Ireland reach three figures … but England are in full control.
28th over: Ireland 95-4 (Hunter 28, Paul 7) Villiers nearly has another to close the over, getting an edge off Hunter – but Capsey can’t hold on to a tough chance.
27th over: Ireland 92-4 (Hunter 27, Paul 5) Gibson runs through another quiet one.
26th over: Ireland 89-4 (Hunter 26, Paul 3) Villiers, for the first time today, gets through an over without taking a wicket.
25th over: Ireland 86-4 (Hunter 25, Paul 1) Halfway through the innings and Ireland seem quite stuck. They were building patiently through that Hunter-Prendergast stand – but then came Villiers.
WICKET! Stokell c Gibson b Villiers 3 (Ireland 83-4)
Oh dear. Villiers tosses the ball up and Stokell just chips the ball straight to extra cover. Ireland are in quite a bit of bother now.
24th over: Ireland 83-4 (Hunter 25, Paul 0)
23rd over: Ireland 80-3 (Hunter 23, Stokell 2) Rebecca Stokell begins with a clip over midwicket for a couple as Gibson continues to nibble away. Hunter, despite coming in at three in the second over, has faced just 41 deliveries.
22nd over: Ireland 77-3 (Hunter 22, Stokell 0) A wicket maiden: some start by Villiers.
WICKET! Prendergast c Kemp b Villiers 25 (Ireland 77-3)
Wow. Mady Villiers is into the attack and immediately finds a handy spot, the ball turning sharply to nearly castle Prendergast … and the off-spinner picks up the breakthrough moments later! Prendergast, presumably tired of singles, slog-sweeps but can’t clear the ropes, finding Freya Kemp instead.
21st over: Ireland 75-2 (Hunter 22, Prendergast 25) Gibson is stump-to-stump in this binary game, the ones and dots totting up.
20th over: Ireland 72-2 (Hunter 21, Prendergast 23) Dean has a slip in as she continues to play with her pace, closing the over with a delicious delivery that narrowly beats Hunter’s outside edge.
19th over: Ireland 68-2 (Hunter 19, Prendergast 21) Dani Gibson is on to send down her medium pace, and Prendergast welcomes it, clipping through midwicket for the first boundary in ages.
18th over: Ireland 63-2 (Hunter 19, Prendergast 17) Dean manages to get some serious dip on the ball as Hunter and Prendergast settle, once again, for singles.
17th over: Ireland 59-2 (Hunter 18, Prendergast 15) After a churn of singles, Prendergast decides to launch the ball down the ground … but it doesn’t make it to the rope. She has to settle for two against Corteen-Coleman.
16th over: Ireland 54-2 (Hunter 17, Prendergast 11) Dean darts one in at pace, then gives her off-break some decent hang-time. She’s such a wonderful bowler to watch.
15th over: Ireland 52-2 (Hunter 16, Prendergast 10) Prendergast has settled in nicely against England’s spinners, this pair happily knocking it about for ones as they rebuild.
14th over: Ireland 48-2 (Hunter 14, Prendergast 9) Dean goes short but Hunter can’t swivel in time for the big leg-side hit. The off-spinner finds Prendergast’s outside edge, but the ball safely runs away for a couple.
13th over: Ireland 43-2 (Hunter 13, Prendergast 5) Corteen-Coleman loses control with a full toss … but Prendergast, maybe caught a little off-guard, bunts it for one instead of going for the full thwack.
12th over: Ireland 41-2 (Hunter 12, Prendergast 4) Charlie Dean brings herself on – there’s not a lot of turn there, the ball skidding through as Prendergast plays off the back foot.
11th over: Ireland 37-2 (Hunter 9, Prendergast 3) Corteen-Coleman continues, with Hunter and Prendergast running up the singles.
10th over: Ireland 33-2 (Hunter 7, Prendergast 1) The powerplay goes to England.
WICKET! Lewis b Wong 19 (Ireland 32-2)
Lewis has looked in fine touch but Wong’s stump-to-stump line, bowled from wide on the crease, does the trick. Ireland’s captain departs. It’s just reward for a strong new-ball spell.
9th over: Ireland 32-1 (Hunter 7, Lewis 19) Time for some tweak. Tilly Corteen-Coleman is into the game and Lewis is happy to attack immediately, sweeping for four.
8th over: Ireland 26-1 (Hunter 6, Lewis 14) Capsey stays up to the stumps, denying Lewis the freedom to dance down the pitch. Wong goes full to Hunter, who swings hard across the line – the ball is nowhere near the middle of the bat, but it still flies through midwicket for four.
7th over: Ireland 19-1 (Hunter 1, Lewis 13) MacDonald-Gay has settled into her channel, conceding just the one.
6th over: Ireland 18-1 (Hunter 1, Lewis 12) Wong’s accuracy has been impressive, but Lewis decides to attack, shimmying down the pitch to pull away for four. That prompts Alice Capsey to come up to the stumps and she’s nutmegged by a Wong yorker that gets a little edge. A mix-up between Hunter and Lewis nearly sees the former run-out – Ireland don’t need another one of those.
5th over: Ireland 13-1 (Hunter 1, Lewis 7) MacDonald-Gay is getting a hint of outswing, and Hunter is happy to leave it alone outside off for now.
4th over: Ireland 12-1 (Hunter 1, Lewis 6) Wong gets the ball to nip into Lewis, whose game looks in solid order. She’s averaging over 40 in ODIs since the start of 2025.
3rd over: Ireland 10-1 (Hunter 0, Lewis 5) MacDonald-Gay starts off tight before going too short and too wide: Lewis puts everything into her cut shot, granting her a boundary.
2nd over: Ireland 5-1 (Hunter 0, Lewis 1) Amy Hunter, who hit 62 in the opener, joins her captain.
WICKET! Tector run out Dunkley 3 (Ireland 4-1)
Issy Wong thunders in from the other end, and is very much stump-to-stump to begin with … Tector drives straight and, oh, she’s gone trying to nab a single! Dunkley comes round from mid-off to pick up and throw, and she takes down the stumps at the non-striker’s end. It looks innocuous to begin with but Tector’s behind the line. England have their first.
1st over: Ireland 4-0 (Tector 3, Lewis 0) MacDonald-Gay quickly finds her line outside off, no nerves on show despite a long absence at this level. Well, just as I type that, she bowls a wide.
Let’s get going. MacDonald-Gay will take the new ball, with Alice Tector on strike.
This’ll be MacDonald-Gay’s first international appearance since … the Ashes Test in February 2025. She’s back after sustaining a lower back injury last year.
If you fancy hanging out with Tanya for a bit:
The teams
Ryana MacDonald-Gay comes in for Lauren Filer, and Ireland make one change, too: Georgina Dempsey replaces Arlene Kelly.
England: Sophia Dunkley, Maia Bouchier, Jodi Grewcock, Alice Capsey (wk), Freya Kemp, Dani Gibson, Charlie Dean (c), Mady Villiers, Issy Wong, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Tilly Corteen-Coleman
Ireland: Gaby Lewis (c), Alice Tector, Amy Hunter (wk), Orla Prendergast, Rebecca Stokell, Leah Paul, Louise Little, Cara Murray, Jane Maguire, Georgina Dempsey, Kia McCartney
England win the toss and choose to bowl first
Charlie Dean’s keen to chase again, while Gaby Lewis says she’s happy to bat first. Everyone’s a winner.
Preamble
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to coverage of the second one-day international between England and Ireland. The opener was a record-breaker in Leicester, with the hosts pulling off their highest ODI chase in reaching 282: Sophia Dunkley gave it a thump with a 61-ball 73 while Maia Bouchier went big with 104 off 95, her third international century. The work was done with 71 (!) balls to spare.
Now to Derby, with this experimental England side – Alice Capsey has the gloves – looking to take the series. We’ll get going at 1pm BST. Drop me a line with your thoughts, queries, whatever’s on your mind.
