Orla Prendergast delivered a remarkable all-round performance, taking 3 for 25 and then scoring an unbeaten 122 off 107 balls to lead Ireland to a three-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first ODI in Dublin on Friday. The victory marked Ireland’s highest successful run chase in ODIs and their first-ever ODI win against Sri Lanka in five attempts.
Sri Lanka, having been sent in to bat, relied on Vishmi Gunaratne’s maiden ODI century to post a total of 260 for 8. In response, Ireland’s chase got off to a rocky start, with Gaby Lewis dismissed for 9 off 24 balls. Sarah Forbes and Amy Hunter then steadied the innings with a 49-run partnership for the second wicket before Forbes was trapped lbw by Sachini Nisansala. Hunter contributed a brisk 42 off 45 balls, including four boundaries, in a 47-run stand with Prendergast. After Leah Paul’s dismissal, Prendergast took charge of the chase.
Prendergast reached her half-century with a boundary off Kavisha Dilhari, taking 57 balls to get there. Despite Ireland losing wickets at regular intervals, Prendergast kept the scoreboard ticking. With three overs remaining, Ireland needed 30 runs with just three wickets in hand. The match turned in Ireland’s favour in the 48th over, where Prendergast struck Dilhari for two fours and a six, bringing up her century off 97 balls in the process. The 18-run over left Ireland needing just 12 runs from the final two overs.
Fittingly, Prendergast secured the winning run with a single in the final over, finishing with an unbeaten 122. Her innings was the second-highest score by a batter at No. 4 or lower in a women’s ODI chase.
Earlier in the match, Gunaratne became only the second Sri Lankan batter, after Chamari Athapaththu, to score a century in a One Day International (ODI). However, Athapaththu’s return to the team, after missing the T20I series, was short-lived as she was dismissed on the first ball, caught behind off Prendergast. Harshitha Samarawickrama also had a slow start, taking 11 balls to get off the mark, but she managed to hit four boundaries in her 19 runs before being bowled by Alana Dalzell in the eighth over.
Gunaratne and Hasini Perera then built a crucial partnership, with Gunaratne finding her rhythm after hitting a six off Dalzell and later taking debutant Alice Tector for two fours in the ninth over. After reaching her half-century off 58 balls, Gunaratne accelerated the scoring rate. In the 30th over, she hit Jane Maguire for a six to move to 96, and in the next over, she brought up her century with a boundary off Arlene Kelly. Although she was dismissed on the very next ball, she had already added 122 runs with Perera for the third wicket.
Despite the quick dismissals of Dilhari and Perera, Sri Lanka’s lower middle order managed to add 62 runs in the last ten overs, including 36 in the final five, pushing them to a competitive total. However, their efforts were ultimately insufficient against Prendergast’s match-winning performance for Ireland