Ireland continue to struggle for ODI form
This was not Ireland's worst 50-over display in recent times, but, in a World Cup year, they still haven't cracked the longer format
Ireland opened up their tour of India with a heavy six-wicket defeat in Rajkot. Gaby Lewis came close to a maiden ODI century, falling short on 92, while Leah Paul continued her good form with a knock of 59.
Still, Ireland’s total of 238-7 after choosing to bat first at the toss always looked to be short on what was a belter of a pitch. India came racing out of the traps, scoring 70 runs in the powerplay. Ireland were always struggling thereafter.
After a decent middle-overs period where Ireland’s spinners did well when given a thankless task, India finished the game off with a late blitz to win inside 35 overs. Pratika Rawal top scored with 89 while Tejal Hasabnis finished unbeaten on 53.
Here are the game’s talking points.
Oh captain, my captain
In a game with Amy Hunter missing (she’s injured and won’t feature all series) while Orla Prendergast was dismissed for a single figure score, for Ireland to still post a score of 238 is somewhat of a win. That predominantly comes down to Gaby Lewis’ knock of 92.
Since taking over as full-time captain earlier this year, Lewis has notched three 50+ scores in seven matches. In that span, across T20s and ODIs, she is averaging 35.14, compared to her career numbers of 30.04 (ODIs) and 28.61 (T20s).
Take this run back even further when Lewis was captain during the Irish summer, deputising for the injured Laura Delany. In a run which included a T20 century against Sri Lanka and an ODI half-century against England, Lewis is averaging 35.5, a number which is again higher than her career norm in both formats. Captaincy suits her.
On Friday against India, Lewis was brilliant in the powerplay. She punished debutant seamer Sayali Satghare with three boundaries in as many balls, driving, sweeping and flicking with disdain. She found the fence 15 times in all, falling short of a maiden ODI century when hitting the ball back to off-spinner Deepti Sharma.
Lewis has a pair of T20I centuries to her name but has never crossed three figures in the longer format. She has ended up in the 90s four times in her career. Against Zimbabwe in 2021 she ran out of runs on 96 not out as Ireland reached their target. Against West Indies in 2023 she couldn’t get past 95 not out in the final over. Facing the Dutch in 2022, she also perished on 92, same as today.
Rest assured, this inability to convert is infuriating for the player. It’s not a critical issue, but perhaps it’s not far off reaching the status of a mental block.
Underpowered powerplay
In a year in which Ireland’s fortunes will be defined by an ODI World Cup qualifier, this side has not yet figured out the longer format. Their 50-over form has trended in the wrong direction since beating Sri Lanka 2-1 in a Stormont series earlier this summer. They lost 2-1 to England - including a game where they were bowled out for 45 - before being whitewashed 3-0 in Bangladesh. Now they’ve started off this three-game ODI stint with another heavy loss.
Contrast all this to Ireland not losing a T20 series all year - drawing with Sri Lanka and England before beating Bangladesh 3-0.
In the shorter format, Lewis, Hunter and Prendergast in particular have embraced an aggressive mindset with the bat. Ireland have been getting off to strong starts and getting ahead of the game. This is not the case in ODI cricket.
Since the start of the home summer, only once have Ireland scored more than 40 runs in the powerplay of an ODI. This came in a rain-shorted 22 over game against England, so it was for all intents and purposes a T20. By contrast, in these 10 games, Ireland have only restricted the opposition to fewer than 40 runs on three occasions. Twice Ireland have lost four or more powerplay wickets in this span, while they have not taken four or more scalps with the ball.
With more overs to bat than in T20, are Ireland shackled by the fear of losing their top order early and having to rely on a weaker middle order? Perhaps. But even when Ireland lose just one wicket in the powerplay, meaning two of their top three are still available, they have only once scored at more than four an over.
For whatever reason, Ireland have not brought their T20 positive mindset - not necessarily reckless aggression - into the longer format. But their more circumspect approach has not led to fewer wickets being lost. Since the summer, Ireland have had 21 wickets fall in the powerplay. Their bowlers have only taken 13.
Ireland are not scoring more runs nor keeping more wickets in hand than their opposition. More control when bowling with the powerplay would also help. Today, conceding 70-1, was their worst defensive powerplay in this six month span. This was in large part to Georgina Dempsey - playing in her first international since April - and Prendergast struggling to adapt to a left-right hand opening pairing. They also bowled too short and were punished by India’s star batter Smriti Mandhana.
Spin twins
I’ve been critical (but optimistic) of Ireland’s pair of young spinners, Aimee Maguire and Freya Sargent in recent times. On Friday against India, they were comfortably the most positive takeaway from a difficult stint in the field.
On a good pitch defending a below par total, Ireland’s bowlers were always going to struggle. Sargent and Maguire not only survived, but caused problems. Sargent took advantage of her match-up - off-spin to a left-hander - to dismiss Mandhana in the powerplay. She took just a smidgen of pace off and extracted enough spin to find a top edge from an attempted sweep.
Maguire, the left-arm spinner, did similar when enticing Harleen Deol to sky one into the air. Mercifully for Ireland given their recent catching woes, Prendergast, the side’s best fielder, was under both chances.
Maguire also out-foxed Jemimah Rodrigues, bowling slow and wide well outside off stump as she danced down the track. The ball beat the edge and ‘keeper Christina Coulter-Reilly took a tricky stumping chance.
At times, Maguire did bowl too straight and was swept behind square. She also didn’t benefit from Ireland having to keep the field up in a bid to buy a wicket while defending a low total. Pratika Rawal hit her for three consecutive boundaries when trying to finish the game before holing out to long-off.
India offered Ireland a reminder of what they don’t have. Their leg-spinner, Priya Mishra, was outstanding. The highlight of her spell was a well-disguised googly bowling Laura Delany first ball. Ireland are lacking a quality, attacking mystery spinner. Still, given the circumstances, Maguire (3-57) and Sargent (1-38) returned a decent set of figures.
Injuries
Delany had a difficult day. To go with her golden duck, she was taken out of the attack for bowling a pair of beamers. She later walked off the pitch with what looked like a finger injury, which would explain the lack of control with the ball. It remains to be seen how bad the issue is.
Lewis didn’t take to the field to captain the side in the second innings. Prendergast deputised for the skipper who suffered from cramp after a lengthy batting innings in the Rajkot heat. She should be fine for Sunday’s game.
What was said
Ireland captain Gaby Lewis: “I’m feeling good, just started to cramp up. Got the fluids in and I’m feeling better.
“I don’t think we bowled to the best of our ability but there are positives to take. We fielded much better than we did in Bangladesh.
“I’m delighted [with 92 runs]. Credit to Leah [Paul] as well, we stuck in there and created a partnership after a few early wickets.
“Coming from Bangladesh, the wickets were very different. It’s about adapting overall and I’m proud of the performance. The spinners bowled brilliantly. That’s one thing we asked for before the series, to keep improving game on game.”
Next up
India vs Ireland, second ODI. Sunday 5.30am start (Irish time). Live on TNT Sports.