Gaby Lewis tasted defeat in her first match as permanent skipper today as a rusty-looking Ireland side were blown away by 154 runs in the opening encounter of three one-day internationals against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
After losing the toss, the Girls in Green did well to peg the home side to exactly three an over through the first 20, but with wickets at a premium Bangladesh accelerated smoothly to reach 252-4, on a pitch of variable bounce.
A stronger than usual Ireland batting line up — with Una Raymond-Hoey in at seven — failed to mount a serious challenge and were bowled out for 98 in only 28.5 overs
The visitors had been expecting a trial by spin but it was medium pacer Marufa Akter who struck the crucial early blows, swinging a ball into Lewis’s pads for an lbw decision in the third over and ‘strangling’ Amy Hunter next ball, caught down the leg side.
Opener Sarah Forbes (25), Orla Prendergast (19) and former skipper Laura Delany (22) were the only ones to reach double figures, and the cause wasn’t helped by two run outs as the visitors tried to push quick singles.
There was encouragement for coach Ed Joyce from the performance of young spinners Freya Sargent and Aimee Maguire who took three of the four wickets but he will be looking for a big improvement from his batters in Saturday’s second game.