With a slight autumnal chill at the finish, Orla Prendergast masterminded a classic run chase to beat Sri Lanka Women by three wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The day instigated with Alice Tector receiving her first cap in a moving ceremony on the pitch with family present as speeches were made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not long after, Orla Prendergast had ball in hand as Ireland won the toss and elected to bowl first. It turned out to be a cunning move from stand-in skipper Gaby Lewis as Prendergast uninvolved Sri Lanka star batter and Captain Chamari Athapaththu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alana Dalzell also saw the end of Harshitha Samarawickrama but afterward found it harder in the middle overs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ireland\u2019s bowlers sustained to chip away throughout, but were able to make a final push with Prendergast claiming a career-best 3-25. But that wouldn\u2019t be her last trick of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In their pursuit of 261, Ireland made a watchful start to the chase. However, the critical task was going to be keeping up with the required run rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Re-enter Orla Prendergast. She worked hard with Amy Hunter, Rebecca Stokell and Arlene Kelly to form key partnerships and get back into the chase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the while, Prendergast started moving through the gears \u2013 first getting to a remarkable hundred and then eyeing up the runs still required. As she moved closer to the target she found a second wind once she she could \u201csee the finish line in sight\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two teams move now to the second game of the three-match ODI series on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MATCH SUMMARY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ireland Women v Sri Lanka Women, 1st One Day International, Stormont, 16 August 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sri Lanka 260-8 (50 overs; Vishmi Gunaratne 101; O Prendergast 3-25) Ireland won by 3 wickets<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With a slight autumnal chill at the finish, Orla Prendergast masterminded a classic run chase to beat Sri Lanka Women by three wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series. The day instigated with Alice Tector receiving her first cap in a moving ceremony on the pitch with family present as speeches were made….<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,59],"tags":[869,868,134,72],"class_list":["post-7172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket","category-womens-cricket","tag-1st-one-day-international","tag-ireland-women-v-sri-lanka-women","tag-sports-news","tag-sri-lanka-cricket"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Ireland 261-7 (49.2 overs; Orla Prendergast 122*; A Hunter 42; K Dilhari 4-54) <\/p>\n\n\n\n