Where was Ireland's intent?

Christina Coulter-Reilly has a career day but Ireland limp along to defeat instead of going hard after India's big total

Christina Coulter-Reilly impressed against India. 📸: Cricket Ireland

Ireland reached their highest score against India (254), but still succumbed to a heavy, 116 run defeat in the second ODI of this series in Rajkot.

Choosing not to select Aimee Maguire after her action was reported by officials, and without the bowling of Laura Delany who looks to have picked up a finger injury, Ireland struggled with the ball. All of India’s top four batters passed 50. They reached 370 and at multiple points of the innings, it looked like being 400+.

In reply, Christina Coulter-Reilly suggested she can add some much-needed batting depth with an innings of 80, though she will be disappointed not to have crossed three figures. That said, Ireland didn’t show the intent required to come close to the total until too late in the innings, limping their way to 254-7.

Here are the game’s talking points.

Coulter-Reilly shines

Ireland were always going to struggle to be competitive against a side of India’s calibre. Especially at a venue such as Rajkot which has produced flat pitches which favour teams with superior batting depth.

What, then, would represent success across this series given this is the last cricket Ireland play before starting an ODI World Cup qualifying campaign this spring/early summer?

Improving their batting depth and their spin attack would have been top of Gaby Lewis and Ed Joyce’s wishlist. One of those goals took a big hit with news that Aimee Maguire, the left-arm spinner who took three wickets in Friday’s first ODI, has been reported for a suspect action (that’s ICC code for the umpires suspected her of throwing it).

She must now undergo testing of her action in Loughborough. She can still play and bowl before that happens, but Ireland opted to leave her out of the XI today. She was still in the dugout carrying drinks. If her action turns out to be illegal, whether she remodels it sufficiently to be able to bowl effectively in a few months’ time remains to be seen.

What, then of the batting? Christina Coulter-Reilly’s maiden international half-century (80) on Sunday is a big, big win for Ireland. A few months ago, the back-up wicketkeeper nervily hit the winning runs against England, taking advantage of a misfield to secure a win. Today, she looked much more assured.

Not at the start of her innings, though. It took the Clontarf ‘keeper 15 balls to get off the mark. She looked nervy, not least when being hit on the helmet twice in that span. The first was a glancing blow, the second was a bouncer which she wore flush on the grill.

That Coulter-Reilly went on to bring up her half-century with the pull shot which was previously unsuccessful is not lost on those who yearn for pleasing narratives.

You could see her confidence rise significantly with her first boundary. She swatted a long hop from leg-spinner Priya Mishra to the mid-wicket boundary. From there, she added further pulls, sweeps and powerful, dismissive cover drives when India strayed wide with their lines.

In truth, a hundred was beckoning for Coulter-Reilly. She was bowled for 80 with close to 10 overs still to go. She may rightly wonder when a chance for a century against this calibre of opposition will present itself again.

Still, given the regular criticism of this team centres on an over-reliance on Lewis, Prendergast and Hunter for runs, it is only a good thing that the player who replaced the injured Hunter has had a positive impact.

Confidence in one’s ability often only comes from knowing what success feels like. Coulter-Reilly needs to ensure this was not a one-off, career day but, come a qualifying event later this year, Ireland at least have another name who has a track record, however limited, of scoring runs.

Intent?

For all the positivity of individual success, questions have to be asked of Ireland’s general batting approach. Chasing a huge total of 371, they never showed the positive intent required to get close, or even push towards 300.

In the powerplay, Ireland scored 40-1 off the first 10 overs. It was a better display than Friday, but given the required total, scoring at four runs an over when the opposition has to keep the field up is not going to cut it.

Coulter-Reilly displayed an ability to find the fence, 10 times in total, but still had a strike-rate of 70. Gaby Lewis and Sarah Forbes were both closer to 60. Laura Delany (37 off 36), Arlene Kelly (19 off 16) and Leah Paul (27 off 22) all did at least show enough intent to score at more than a run a ball. The game was gone by the time these batters came in.

On commentary, one of the Indian pundits praised Ireland for sticking at the task, preventing a collapse and instead spending valuable time at the wicket. With the greatest of respect, that’s utter nonsense.

Ireland should be past the stage where competitive fixtures serve as mere batting practice. They need as many repetitions as possible in proper matches where every delivery has a bearing on the contest.

Lest we forget how this side folded in last year’s T20 World Cup qualifier once they came up against a Scottish side which could actually challenge them. Flying to India for high quality, extended net sessions does them no good. Yes, they were probably never going to chase 370, but they could have at least sent a message by attempting to die trying. They are good enough to fire more shots in a game like this. Being happy to pass 250 while still falling 120 short is just not it.

Ireland have spoken a lot about their aggressive T20 approach. They don’t need to replicate this in 50 over cricket all of the time, but they do when chasing 300+.

What happens when, if playing the West Indies in a match which determines World Cup qualification, Hayley Matthews hits 150 and Ireland have to chase 300? Should they limp their way to 250, putting some gloss on the result with a few late maximums when the game is up, and say, ‘Shucks, at least we came close?’ Or show some better, more calculated (not gung-ho) intent, comfortable in the knowledge that this could see them collapse for 100 if it goes wrong, but at least they took the sole approach which gave them a chance of victory?

You can decide for yourself.

Selection

Ireland’s team selection was intriguing. Again, Maguire could have played today, but they opted not to pick her given the reporting of her action. With no other spinner in the squad, another seamer was always going to come in.

What was a surprise, though, was the decision to leave out a batter for yet another seamer. All told, out went Maguire and Una Raymond-Hoey, in came Alana Dalzell and Ava Canning.

The extra seamer was probably needed given Laura Delany picked up a finger injury on Friday. This looks to have prevented her bowling today.

Sacrificing a batter, though, can backfire if you concede 370 runs in the first innings. Arlene Kelly coming in at number seven looks one spot too high, even if she did manage to slog a few boundaries. If Delany doesn’t bowl, the balance of Ireland’s XI just looks off.

It also looks wrong with just one spinner. Unless Cara Murray returns to the circle of trust, which seems unlikely given she was not selected for a tour of the sub-continent, Ireland will only have one spinner, Freya Sargent, while Maguire tests her action.

On a flat, high scoring surface, quality spin or extra pace is needed. Ireland don’t really have either. Maguire has been improving but neither she nor Sargent are good enough yet to consistently contain India over three matches. Prendergast is Ireland’s quickest bowler, but she’s not proper fast by international standards.

All of which means Ireland’s medium pacers need to be incredibly disciplined, and have the stamina to be so over 50 overs. Especially on a flat surface. They weren’t today and they paid the price.

What’s next?

The third and final ODI is on Wednesday. It’s a 5.30am start Irish time once again, live on TNT Sports.