Improved Ireland fall again to Bangladesh
Bangladesh chase Ireland's total of 193 to win by five wickets and take a series-clinching victory in Dhaka
Ireland slipped to 2-0 down in their three-match ODI series against Bangladesh after a five-wicket loss in Dhaka.
However, after Wednesday’s record defeat, this result did see significant improvements in the Irish performance. Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Ireland posted 193-6 thanks largely to Amy Hunter (68), Orla Prendergast (37) and Laura Delany (33).
The total was still light and Ireland struggled to offer consistent threat with the ball, particularly in the spin department. Bangladesh reached their target with five wickets and 37 balls to spare.
While this defeat does hand the series to Bangladesh, there were at least signs that Ireland were able to build on the last outing and problem solve on the pitch.
Here are the game’s main talking points.
Improvements
On Wednesday, Ireland lost their last five wickets for just 14 runs. In the second ODI, the fifth wicket - that of Leah Paul - fell in the 44th over with the score on 153. The sixth wicket didn’t come until the 50th over when Laura Delany departed with Ireland on 190 (they finished on 193). The somewhat regular lower order collapse didn’t materialise this time.
Would you like to score more than 40 runs in the last six overs with five wickets in hand? Yes. Is it still a lot better than what we saw from the lower middle order on Wednesday? Also yes.
The line-up lengthening move of having Una Raymond-Hoey come in at seven looked to pay off somewhat given her unbeaten contribution of 21 off 18 balls featuring two boundaries. When Ireland don’t have their best batters play through the innings, they are still comfortably being outscored from over number 30 onwards, when teams normally like to kick on. But at least on this occasion they were outscored not because of a game-ending collapse.
Other more positive areas were the form shown by Amy Hunter (68) and Orla Prendergast (37) with the bat. Hunter looks to have identified that the powerplay isn’t the run-fest it normally is, given the pitch and the conditions, and stayed patient as a result. All while still finding enough boundaries to earn some return with the field up.
Both Prendergast and Hunter also played strong shots down the ground, a necessity when facing such a spin-heavy attack. Prendergast, who was dismissed in the first ODI playing a tentative shot trying to clear mid-on, this time went through with the full shot and cleared the ring with ease. If you’re going to swing, swing hard.
Finally, considering we criticised that catching last time out, Gaby Lewis’ grab to remove Murshida Khatun was outstanding. Prendergast swung the ball away from the left-hander and she drove the ball straight into Ireland’s trap. Three fielders were in the gully/point region waiting for an edge. Lewis leapt to her right to snare a stunning diving effort.
Skipper
Moving onto concerns, well, this one isn’t that much of a concern. Two dismissals does not make a trend, but it’s worth keeping an eye on how the captain, Lewis, has gotten out so far in this series.
In game one, she got her front pad blown off by a big in-swinger. It can happen. In game two, after the off-spinner’s first delivery with the new ball kept ridiculously low, Lewis later got one which popped off a length, taking the upper portion of the bat and ballooning into the leg side for a simple catch.
On the face of it, this is a pair of dismissals which bring an element of misfortune. But in both cases, Lewis is getting her front foot down the pitch in a bid to be positive. Only there is an element of that leg being down the wrong line once the ball swings or spins in. It is now in the way of the bat, meaning Lewis either misses it (dismissal one) or has to bring the bat down in a funny angle around the pad to access the ball, risking weak contact not off the middle (dismissal two).
It’s not super concerning as of now, but so far in this series, this technical piece of playing around her front pad renders the captain vulnerable to the ball moving back in. One to keep an eye on.
Headspace
Ireland had another two batters run out today, making it four in two games. This is a much bigger issue than a technical point which can probably be rectified easily enough. Ireland were cruising along with Hunter and Prendergast at the crease, reaching 126 at just two down with their best boundary hitters set for a big push in the last 20 overs of the innings.
Then Hunter hit the ball straight to extra cover and took off. For some reason, Prendergast didn’t send her back. You could see Hunter throw her head up to the sky in anguish before she was halfway down the pitch. She knew she had sold her mate down the river.
While a brilliant, athletic piece of fielding from Rabeya Khan completed the run out, this was a brain fade for the ages which could well have cost Ireland the match. Not just because Prendergast was now back in the sheds and could not cash in on a good start, but because of what happened next.
Seconds later, Hunter was nearly involved in another run out when she sent Laura Delany back after she ran halfway down the track. Before the over was complete, Hunter herself was gone, missing a straight one in front of her pad after attempting a tentative prod into the leg side.
It might be too easy to say she was still beating herself up over the Prendergast run out, but it sure looked like her mind was elsewhere. Given the runs under her belt already, this was a weak shot. The initial run out was a mental lapse given both batters were striking well, but to then follow that up with another scare before missing a straight one was not ideal.
Later on, Delany herself was run out. This after Sarah Forbes and Leah Paul suffered the same fate in game one. Ireland are up against it already in difficult conditions away from home. These mental lapses have to go.
Spin + powerplay
Ireland knew spin was going to be a big factor on this tour. Given their inexperience - both Aimee Maguire and Freya Sargent are still U19 eligible - Ireland’s spinners were always likely to be out-bowled by their older Bangladeshi counterparts.
Across the two matches so far, Ireland have taken four wickets via spin. Bangladesh have taken 10. Part of this is an age thing. Ireland’s spinners are young, new professionals. Bangladesh’s are more experienced and, crucially, having been pros for longer, they are physically stronger. This isn’t necessarily a bowling speed issue, but they are able to get through their actions in a more powerful manner, putting more energy and revolutions on the ball.
Accuracy is also an issue. In game one in particular, Ireland’s spinners bowled both sides of the wicket whereas Bangladesh largely just bowled straight.
Yes, Ireland need their spinners to perform better. Maybe Cara Murray gets a look in the third game in order to put some pressure on, though it’s unlikely she will have a game changing impact given her recent lack of international action. But this discrepancy in performance was always likely, meaning Ireland need more from their seamers.
Ireland have only taken one wicket in the powerplay across the two matches. There have been a handful of dropped chances, but by and large, if the spinners aren’t doing the job, someone else needs to provide the threat and that hasn’t come from the seam attack.
Bowling seam in the powerplay isn’t easy in these conditions. Perhaps having two right-arm in-swing bowlers is a bit too samey as well. Alice Tector’s out-swingers might be worth a look in the last game. Either way, Ireland just need more bowling threat across the board, and given the inexperience of the spin attack, we should see this from the new ball.
What was said
Ireland captain Gaby Lewis: “I think there’s a lot of positives. We rectified a few things from the last game and it was great to see the progression from game one to game two. Hopefully we can push on in game three and get the win.
“The girls did really well in the first innings having lost a few early wickets, Amy and Orla did well in that middle period building a partnership. We put the pressure back on Bangladesh. Hopefully we can string a few more partnerships in the next game.
“We were 20 or 30 runs short. We’re well capable of scoring them.”
What’s next
The third and final ODI of this series - before the T20s - is on Monday. Another 4am Irish time start, YouTube is once again your friend for this one.