Ecclestone & Capsey shine as England beat Ireland

Sophie Ecclestone and Alice Capsey starred as England ultimately made hard work of chasing 106 to beat Ireland by four wickets in the Women’s T20 World Cup.

In reply, England were cruising as Capsey smashed a half-century from just 21 balls, the joint-fastest in the competition’s history.

But they stuttered late in the chase, losing five wickets for 33 runs, before reaching their target with 34 balls to spare.

Capsey, 18, who earlier in the day earned a £75,000 deal with Delhi Capitals in the Women’s Premier League, smashed 46 of her 51 runs in boundaries to break the back of England’s chase in a partnership of 66 with Danni Wyatt.

Ireland squandered a strong position after starting their innings in aggressive fashion to reach 80-2, before Gaby Lewis’ dismissal for 36 in the 13th over sparked a dramatic collapse of eight wickets for 25 runs.

Ecclestone, who secured a £180,000 deal in the WPL, backed up her 3-23 in victory over West Indies with another impressive performance to reaffirm her credentials as the world’s number one ranked bowler.

The win takes England to the top of Group 2 and their aggressive approach has boosted their net run-rate, already significantly improving their chances of reaching the semi-finals.

Still room for improvement for England

The group table reads well for England – two wins from two and a healthy net run-rate with the semi-finals in sight.

They have won both their games relatively comfortably in the end but with India to face next, there are a few areas they will need to put right against much better opposition.

Seamers Lauren Bell and Katherine Sciver-Brunt have been expensive, with teams looking to target them, given England boast three superb spinners in Ecclestone, Glenn and Charlie Dean.

Despite opener Sophia Dunkley holing out to mid-off in the first over, England sustained their new-found aggression under coach Jon Lewis but ultimately their chase of 106 should have been completed quicker and more easily.

Ireland bowled poorly to begin with, offering plenty of width for Capsey to latch on to, but learned to exploit the pitch and England’s aggression with slow, loopy spin that tested their patience.

Heather Knight’s 14 from 23 balls slowed England’s pursuit, and the captain will be disappointed not to have steered the side home.

With India’s explosive batting and their endless supply of spinners, Saturday’s encounter could decide who faces defending champions Australia in the semi-final – and all eyes will be on how England face up to their first real challenge.

‘Capsey is a belter’ – reaction

England bowler Sophie Ecclestone to Test Match Special: “We’re so satisfied. The way we’ve gone out in the last two games and put in performances like we’ve wanted to – we’ve still got a lot to improve and hopefully we peak at the right time.

“We thought we’d get a lot of turn out here but it’s just skidding on. It took us a few overs to adapt in the first game but me, Charlie and Glenny came into this game with a real plan to just keep the stumps in play and make it as hard as possible for them.

“Capsey is a belter. She is like my little sister in this squad. She’s basically still got a broken collarbone, there are still plates in there, so for her to play the short ball like she did today and put in that performance is credit to her.”

Ireland all-rounder Gaby Lewis to TMS: “We had a right go at it, having had a good performance against Australia we fully believed we could give it a go today. There are plenty of positives to take, it was the first game and we’re building well.

“We got a good platform but we left a few runs out there and if we’d got 150-160 it would have been a totally different game.”