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Melissa Scott-Hayward took five wickets to give Ireland victory in a nail-biting encounter against Cheshire today.

In a nail-biting low-scoring affair, Ireland were clinical in the field defending a very low total.

Losing the toss, Ireland were put in to bat and Cheshire reaped rewards early on, opening bowler Dawn Prestidge accounting for six of the top seven and leaving Ireland reeling at 44-7 from just 15 overs.

Rebecca Rolfe then played the most important innings of her Ireland career so far, sticking in and playing sensible cricket with some expansive drives mixed in. Amy Kenealy was a perfect foil for Rolfe as she scored 25 from just 27 deliveries.

Rolfe was eventually bowled for 39 and Ireland were all-out in 36 overs. Cheshire started very slowly but only lost their first wicket in the 15th over with the score on 31. Eimear Richardson took three wickets and was miserly with her 10 overs which went for only 16. Amy Kenealy was the most economical bowler, going for just seven runs from seven overs.

Melissa Scott-Hayward did the work at the end, however, taking five wickets in 7.5 overs and conceding just 12 runs. Speaking after the game, Coach Jeremy Bray said, “Once we got over 100 I always knew we had a chance. The girls down the order did a great job to give us something to bowl at in the second innings and our bowlers really stayed on point the whole way through.

“It’s a testament to the confidence the girls have in the field at the moment, the way they played today, and this win will stand us in good stead in the future should we find ourselves in this situation again.”

Cricket Ireland
Ireland’s spinners took eight wickets to help Ireland to victory today
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