Opener Sophie Devine cracked a 61-ball 108 in New Zealand’s second consecutive 400+ total against Ireland in the series. © Getty
For the second game in a row, in a space of three days, New Zealand hammered a 400+ total en route to their mauling of Ireland in Dublin. And on Sunday (June 10), the 306-run win was completed without even the presence of Suzie Bates – the New Zealand skipper and the star of the opening game, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Two times in two games, New Zealand outbatted and outbowled their opponents.
In the second ODI, New Zealand’s charge was led by Sophie Devine, who scored a destructive century – her fourth in ODIs – after the visitors elected to bat. Devine set the platform with half-century stands with Jess Watkin and Maddy Green, who followed up her century in the previous game with a quickfire 50. By the time Devine fell, having stroked a 61-ball 108, inclusive of 13 boundaries and 6 sixes, New Zealand had rocked to 167 off only 100 balls.
Leggie Cara Murray, who had a forgettable debut conceding 119 in the previous game – the most in ODIs – had another disappointing return as she gave away 96 from her 8 overs on Sunday. However, she did manage to bag her maiden wicket when she had Devine caught by Rachel Delaney. She followed it up with the wicket of Bernadine Bezuidenhout in the 43rd over.
Even as none of the other batters managed to post a half century or maintain the early scoring rate, they made handy contributions and scored at a fair clip. Amy Satterthwaite, who led the side in Bates’s absence, scored a handy 42-ball 48 and found company of Bezuidenhout and Anna Peterson, who scored 46.
Ireland kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals, but failed to keep a check on the scoring rate. Lara Maritz led the wicket-taking role with four strikes in the middle overs. New Zealand lost 7 wickets in the last 18.4 overs, but did well to go past the 400-run mark comfortably before being bowled out for 418, with one ball to spare in their innings. Despite conceding a massive total, Ireland players returned to the pavilion to a warm round of applause for bowling out their much-strong opposition.
Ireland’s batting, which hadn’t posed much of a challenge all through the series, failed to stand up yet again. Only three of their batters – Cecelia Joyce (26), Laura Delany (33) and Shauna Kavanagh (18) – managed double digit scores. The slow start, and the continuation of it all through the innings meant that they were off the chase much before their innings technically ended.
Nonetheless, the top order did provide some resistance for the first 25 overs before they suffered a collapse. From 87 for 3, they were bowled out for 112 – losing their last seven wickets in a space of 10.2 overs. Lea Tahuhu, Holly Huddleston, Amelia Kerr and Peterson bagged two wickets each en route to the commanding win.
Brief Scores: New Zealand Women 418 in 49.5 overs (Sophie Devine 108, Maddy Green 50; Lara Maritz 4-58, Amy Kenealy 2-54) beat Ireland 112 in 35.3 overs (Laura Delany 33, Cecelia Joyce 26; Anna Peterson 2-12, Amelia Kerr 2-18) by 306 runs
