Innings Ireland 238 for 7 (Lewis 92, Paul 59, Mishra 2-56) Vs. India

Prendergast was stumped after slicing into a drive, while Delaney was foxed by a wrong-one which went past his inside edge and hit the stumps. But with the game seemingly in their grasp, India let the advantage slip away due to their poor fielding and some erratic bowling.

He dropped a total of four catches. Lewis were first out on 59 when Richa Ghosh bailed out of the catch to prevent a healthy edge with his boot. He then left Paul in back-to-back overs, Titas Sadhu at deep midwicket and Mishra on his own bowling, as the batsman crossed his seventh ODI half-century.

Then with Ireland looking for quick pace in the closing overs, Harleen Dewell held Arlene Kelly to extra cover. Ireland eventually managed to go the full 50 overs, which must be counted as a small victory with only two players – Lewis and Delaney – having previous experience of playing in India.

The first ball that beat the bat was in the fifth over, and India got their first breakthrough on the very next ball when Sarah Forbes dismissed Tetas Sadhu to Deepti Sharma at wide first slip. Una Raymond-Hoey started with a charming square drive but was run out attempting a non-existent single to extra cover.

Lewis kept on punching, quick to pounce on anything small as she brought up Ireland’s 50 in the 13th over with a superb front-off square to Saima Thakur. Prendergast also looked to take the attack to the spinners but got out one ball after taking Mishra down the ground.

Several wickets did not stop Lewis from counter-punching. He reverse-swept Mishra in the 16th over with back-to-back fours. Then when Deepti came, she wasn’t afraid to move around the crease and take it off with fine paddles whenever she filled in the pads.

Lewis benefited from a busy Paul at the other end. Like Lewis, Paul was brilliant at throwing spinners off their lengths. While Lewis was happy to sweep the pace or reverse sweep, Paul forced cutting and pulling the pace square of the wicket. He scored his half-century off 58 balls in the 34th over as Ireland looked set to cross the 250-run mark.

But Paul’s run out – he attempted a run at mid-off only to be sent back – left him at 173 for 5 in the 39th over. This period also came when Lewis had little strength in his arms. As she neared her maiden ODI century, she slowed considerably, before giving Deepti a simple return catch for 92.

Cameos from Kelly and Christina Coulter Riley helped Ireland score some crucial runs in the death overs, before Satghare sent Kelly back lbw for her first ODI wicket in front of her jubilant family. . India will look back on their effort with mixed feelings – while a young pace attack with a combined 13 ODIs got a good workout, they will be disappointed with their fielding and catching to let the visitors down. Let go further.