England beat Ireland by four wickets to make it two wins from two at T20 World Cup as Alice Capsey hits 21-ball fifty | Cricket News

Alice Capsey smashed a 21-ball fifty as England overcame a spirited start from Ireland and their own batting wobble to secure a four-wicket win and make it two wins from two in the Women’s T20 World Cup.

Capsey’s half-century, the fastest by England women in T20Is, the joint fastest in a T20 World Cup, and the third fastest by a women’s player in the format, helped them reach their target of 106 with 34 balls to spare. after Ireland had folded from 80-2 to 105 all out.

Capsey (51 off 22), picked up by Delhi Capitals for £75,000 in the Women’s Premier League auction on Monday, hit 10 fours and a six in a valiant knock, after reaching the crease in the first innings after Sophia Dunkley was out. for mid-on.

England lost five wickets for 33 runs once Capsey was dismissed before Katherine Sciver-Brunt leathered the winning margin through her cover as her team backed up a seven-wicket demolition of the West Indies on Saturday.

Ireland, helped by Danni Wyatt put Gaby Lewis (36 from 37) in the fourth, 41-1 after the powerplay and 80-2 in 13 overs after electing to bat in Paarl, only to lose eight wickets for 25 runs.

Sophie Ecclestone (3-13) – on the day she was sold for £180,000 at the WPL auction – sparked the collapse as she struck from successive deliveries, starting with the dismissal of opener and top scorer Lewis.

England opener Capsey, 18, laced the second and third ball he faced for four; gargantuan three boundaries in a row in four overs; and then it became four, four six in six as he mixed power, placement and innovation before he was caught in the long-dead.

England were 69-1 in the powerplay but then lost Capsey, Wyatt (16), Nat Sciver-Brunt (5), Amy Jones (12) and Heather Knight (14) as they continued to attack.

The mini-collapse was priceless, as England edged closer to a semi-final spot as they clinched their first T20 World Cup title in 14 years.

England won against the backdrop of the Women’s Premier League auction

The WPL auction – where Nat Sciver-Brunt was bought by Mumbai Indians for £320k – dominated the pre-match chatter and continued to do so during the match.

England’s mind may have been there early against Ireland and their opponents took advantage – Lewis and Amy Hunter (15) added 35 for the first wicket in five overs for a side that had beaten tournament favorites Australia in a warm-up match last week.

Off-spinner Charlie Dean (2-26) took the first wicket with Hunter caught at deep midwicket by Dunkley and leg-spinner Sarah Glenn (3-19) snared the second when she bowled Orla Prendergarst (13 off 17), one ball. after Prendergarst had lofted him over extra-cover for a sublime fourth.

But the round really changed when Lewis top-edged Ecclestone to Wyatt in the deep retreat square midway through the 13th over – Wyatt made no mistake this time after the previous drop at the point.

When Ecclestone trapped Eimear Richardson lbw the next ball, he fell in with Ireland’s last seven batters failing to make double figures.

Ecclestone took three wickets for the second game – yorking Ireland captain Laura Delany (12) with the last ball of her spell – and also claimed a good diving catch at mid-off to remove Louise Little (8) before Capsey and England’s batters departed. work.

Nat Sciver-Brunt fell cheap but missed the milestone of 2,000 T20 internationals.

‘Playing in the World Cup is a dream’

Player of the Match, Alice Capsey…

“I’m very happy. Playing for England at the World Cup is a dream, isn’t it?

“The plan is very clear, which is to put pressure on the bowlers at every opportunity, and that’s the message we’ve been getting from us. [head coach] Jon Lewis is a perfect match for us.

“It’s really good and I’m happy to play under him. We have high confidence, we’re all very happy and I think we can show it.”

Knight: We want to take an aggressive option

England captain Heather Knight…

“I think Ireland came at us hard [with the bat] and it is good with the way the spinners are brought back again. It is a very conducive pitch to play and we have three world-class spinners in our line-up who are doing a great job for us.

“Then Alice [Capsey] broke the back of the hunt and made it easier. We have worked hard at the end but still two points. You have to take aggressive options in T20 and be free. This is a mantra for us.

“We want to take the game and we have the depth on our side to be really hard at the top, attack the powerplay and put the opposition under pressure.”

Delany: England beat us in both innings

Ireland captain Laura Delany…

“We’re obviously disappointed to lose, but fair play to England, they beat us in two rounds.

“There are definitely some positives to take from the first half and also with the ball. But we want to put in a great partnership, that’s something we want to target.

“Our top three have come in with good intentions and the next step is to make sure we can keep that momentum going and give them a central platform to kick on at the end. We’ve got confidence from the games we’ve played. we just want to keep building.”

What’s next?

England return to action against India on Saturday, with the game at Gqeberha starting at 1pm. Ireland’s their next match is against Pakistan in Cape Town on Wednesday at 5pm.

The lone match in the T20 World Cup on Tuesday is the defending champions and tournament favourites Australia – who beat New Zealand by 97 runs in the opening match – played Bangladesh in Gqeberha from 5 pm.