Orla Prendergast led Ireland to a second sensational one-day international victory over Sri Lanka in Belfast on Sunday and to a winning 2-0 lead in their three-match ICC World Championship series.
After beating the tourists for the first time to level their T20 series on Tuesday, they have followed up with two more stunning successes at Stormont over the longer 50-over distance, with a different captain on each occasion.
Prendergast had to step into the breach on Sunday when Gaby Lewis, who had herself taken over from the injured Laura Delany, pulled up with a tight quad, leaving the most inexperienced of sides to take on the Asia Cup champions.
Freya Sargent bowls for Ireland during their second one-day international win over Sri Lanka
Undaunted, Amy Hunter, Leah Paul and Rebecca Stokell all scored half-centuries to post a respectable 255 for five, and a resilient bowling performance sparked a Sri Lanka collapse from 172 for two to 240 all out and an Ireland victory by 15 runs.
“It was a tight game throughout,” Prendergast said.
“We know they have a lot of big batters up top but that if we could take wickets and break partnerships, we could expose the lower order, and we kept up our energy and did that.
“I really enjoyed captaining for the first time – it’s hard not to enjoy it when we played like that and came out with the win.”
It is also hard to overstate just how massive a win this was for coach Ed Joyce’s young side – a real coming-of-age victory.
Ireland’s Freya Sargent celebrates after taking a catch during her side’s victory over Sri Lanka
Hunter, who made 66 from 71 balls, is still only 18, while spinners Freya Sargent and Aimee Maguire, who stemmed the flow of runs when Sri Lanka’s third-wicket partnership looked to be seizing the game, are 18 and 17 respectively.
With experienced batters Lewis and Delany missing, the key partnership for Ireland was 114 for the fifth wicket between Paul, the top scorer with 81, and Stokell, who finished 53 not out.
While Harshitha Samarawickrama was making 105, Sri Lanka had the target well within their sights, but her disastrous run out at the end of the 42nd over was the first of five wickets in 12 balls, and Arlene Kelly soon wrapped up the win to end on 41 for three.
Jane Maguire took 33 for two from eight nagging overs in the middle of the innings, but it was the full quotas from her sister Aimee (49 for one) and Sargent (46 for one) that most pleased Joyce as he dreams of a 3-0 sweep in Tuesday’s final game.