Orla Prendergast had the game of her life in Belfast, taking a career-best 3-25 and following it with a magnificent unbeaten century as Ireland beat Sri Lanka by three wickets in the first of three one-day internationals.
All-rounder Prendergast, who has been in superb form all summer, was the pick of the Ireland bowlers as they restricted the visitors to 260-8 and then shepherded the tail to a stunning victory with four balls to spare.
Missing injured skipper Laura Delany, and losing her replacement Gaby Lewis for only nine, the Ireland top order nevertheless built a strong platform, with opener Sarah Forbes making 30 on her 22nd birthday and Amy Hunter a busy 42.
After that it was the Prendergast show.
The 22-year-old, who came through the youth system at Pembroke, enjoyed two slices of luck as she was dropped on 12 and 90 but there was nothing fortunate about the ten fours and two sixes she sprayed around the Stormont ground.
The 48th over began with Ireland needing an unlikely 30 to win and ended with the requirement down to 12 after Prendergast had gone to her century with a blistering drive and then struck a no-ball for six and took another boundary from the ensuing free hit.
Jane Maguire played a canny foil by pushing seven singles in a 50-run partnership, and the eighth wicket pair cruised over the line, with Prendergast fittingly hitting the winning runs to stride off 122 not out from 107 balls.
“Everyone who came in to bat with me was great and made my job quite easy,” Prendergast said modestly.
“For Jane, at the end there, to bat like that under so much pressure was really impressive.
“After a long 50 overs in the field and a good bit of bowling I was definitely feeling a bit of fatigue, but once we could see the winning line I clicked into an extra gear.”
Along with her first century, another key contribution to Ireland’s first ODI win against Sri Lanka was removing superstar skipper Chamari Athapaththu for a golden duck, caught behind by Hunter.
Vismi Gunaratne made 101 for the Asia Cup champions but the Girls in Green kept chipping away at their wickets, including one for debutante Alice Tector, the brother of men’s international Harry, who impressed with her lively medium pace.
The two sides will meet again at the same venue tomorrow (SUN) with what could be the deciding game of the World Championship series on Tuesday.