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OAK HILL, Wicklow – The Scorchers registered their first points of the current Series, while the Dragons continued their unbeaten start in an action-packed day in the Toyota Super 3s, despite the third T20 being rained off.
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Scorchers vs Typhoons

A solid run chase with everyone chipping helped the Scorchers to a very tight victory over the Typhoons in the opening T20 of the day.

Conditions were overcast and Shauna Kavanagh had no hesitation in electing to bowl first. The early bowling was tight, with both Hannah Little and Amy Kenealy bowling probing lines and asking serious questions in the powerplay. Naomi Matthews fell early when chopping on from Kenealy. Leah Paul and captain, Una Raymond-Hoey had to both rebuild and push the score along while the powerplay concluded.

Paul, who had just gotten a couple of nice shots away, fell also to Kenealy, with the opening bowler jagging one back off the seam to clean bowl her. This brought Orla Prendergast to the crease to join Raymond-Hoey, and these two provided the key partnership of the innings. Both of them looked very accomplished at the crease, running hard in amongst some strong shots that went to the boundary.

It took a good piece of fielding from Gaby Lewis to break this partnership, she stopped a ball at cover before her accurate throw did enough to dismiss Prendergast for 31. Soon after, a sharp piece of work from Shauna Kavanagh behind the stumps removed Raymond-Hoey, who had scored a very fluent 37. This had left them at 110-4 with three overs remaining. The innings needed further impetus.

Robyn Lewis and Amy Hunter did exactly that. They both hit boundaries late on in the innings, with Lewis hitting back-to-back boundaries to mid-wicket in the second last over. The two of them fell in the last over chasing quick runs, with the Typhoons finishing on 141-6.

Gaby Lewis and Rebecca Stokell opened the batting for the Scorchers and needed a good start to give themselves a proper chance. Despite some good opening spells from Celeste Raack and Orla Prendergast, the start was very strong. Lewis was the more fluent early on, scoring three boundaries in her 21. Again it took a very piece of fielding to break the partnership, Leah Paul taking an outstanding one-handed catch at deep mid-wicket off Sarah Condron to dismiss Lewis.

Shauna Kavanagh came to join Stokell, and it was then that Stokell began to take off. She showed off her natural ball-striking ability, hitting five fours and clearing the ropes once during her excellent and entertaining 56. Her 45-ball stay was ended when again Leah Paul took another great catch at long-on off Cassie Stephens to keep the Typhoons in the game.

Despite the run rate climbing all the time, Kavanagh who was now joined by Caoimhe McCann kept their side in the game. The scenario had gotten to needing 20 runs off the last 9 balls when Kavanagh launched a massive six over mid-wicket. She was bowled next ball, though, for 27 and once again the pendulum swung the Typhoons way.

However, a boundary from Sophie MacMahon followed by Caoimhe McCann scoring eight runs off the first three balls of the final over left the Scorchers needing two from the final three balls. McCann was then bowled by Niamh Walsh for 21. However, Tess Maritz was not to be phased by the situation, chipping her first ball over the covers to get the required two to win the game for the Scorchers. Winning the game by six wickets with one ball remaining.

Full scorecard here.

And Tess Maritz gets the ball up and over cover for 2!

Scorchers chase down the Typhoon's 141 by 6 wickets with just 1 ball to spare.

A brilliant first game of the treble header down here in Oakhill!

Next game due to start here at 1.30 PM.#Super3s pic.twitter.com/c9bT13cA9y

— Ireland Women’s Cricket Team (@IrishWomensCric) June 23, 2019

Typhoons vs Dragons

A brilliant 67 not out from Kerry Tomlinson inspired the Dragons to a fairly comprehensive win over the Typhoons, defending 153 in the process.

Mary Waldron won the toss for the Dragons and opted to bat first, looking to have first use of a very good deck out in Oak Hill. Waldron opened up with Tomlinson and despite a slow start due to some very tight bowling to start, they gradually accelerated when it came to the latter part of the powerplay. Tomlinson constantly showed intent, running extremely hard between the wickets before punishing the occasional bad ball.

Waldron got in on the act too, getting herself up to 17 before departing when chipping a return catch back to Cassie Stephens. This brought Rachael Delaney to the crease and she really pushed hard with Tomlinson, both of them putting the fielders under great pressure with impeccable running between the wickets. Both were cashing in with some big shots at times too, with Delaney scoring four boundaries in her over a run a ball 30.

It was pushing one too many singles that did for Delaney in the end, when falling run out. Shillington came in and continued to push the scoring along, scoring a quickfire 18 off 12 balls to add to the score. This was all while Tomlinson motored on to 67 not out, her innings only taking 55 balls, containing eight 4s and one six. The Dragons finishing on a strong 153-4.

To have any chance of winning the game, the Typhoons needed a great start. They didn’t get the start they required, with Matthews, Paul and Robyn Lewis all falling in the first few overs. A fiery opening spell from Lara Maritz accounted for two of them, while Anna Kerrison took the other.

Again it was Raymond-Hoey and Prendergast who tried to rebuild the innings, and they did so effectively for a while. Prendergast had scored a quickfire 17 before finding Anna Kerrison right on the long on rope off the bowling of Jenny Sparrow. Amy Hunter fell run out soon after when attempting a risky single to point. Raymond-Hoey seemed like the last hope, but when she fell to Staci Maxwell, courtesy of a brilliant, tumbling catch from Clare Shillington.

This left the Typhoons 56-6 after 10 overs, looking in big trouble. However, Niamh Walsh and Cassie Stephens put together a very spirited 7th wicket partnership. They didn’t get quite close enough to ever challenge but the two batted very well and put on 70 in the process. Walsh scored a very classy 34 from just 29 balls, only to fall in the last over searching for last minute runs to add to the cause. Cassie Stephens ended up 38*.

The Typhoons eventually ended up on 138-8 from their 20 overs, leaving them just 15 runs short of their target.

Full scorecard here.

The Scorchers off the mark, the Dragons unbeaten
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