New Zealand held off a magnificent effort from Ireland to win their first match of the ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026 by four runs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amelia Kerr struck twice in the 18th over to halt Ireland\u2019s momentum after Orla Prendergast (59) and Gaby Lewis (58) had put together a 110-run partnership for the second wicket to take their country close to a first-ever ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suzie Bates bowled the final over and held her nerve to prevent Ireland (ICC Ranking: 9) scoring the 15 runs they needed for victory, as New Zealand (ICC Ranking: 4) claimed their first win of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prendergast and Murray do damage with the ball<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After captain Lewis won the toss and elected to field, Ireland\u2019s opening bowlers made an electric start at the Hampshire Bowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aimee Maguire struck at the end of the first over as Georgia Plimmer (4) failed to clear Arlene Kelly at mid-off before Prendergast followed up at the start of the second over by removing Isabella Gaze for one by knocking back her middle stump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The defending champions struggled to get going during the powerplay and Prendergast continued to wreak havoc as she reduced New Zealand to 10 for three after she bowled Maddy Green (2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n White Ferns skipper Kerr and Brooke Halliday looked to rebuild the innings and helped them to 31 for three after the first six overs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kerr looked in good touch on her way to 30 and hit four fours as she tried to wrestle back momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But an attempt to clear the rope at deep mid-wicket off Cara Murray\u2019s bowling led to Kerr\u2019s undoing as she picked out Louise Little to leave New Zealand 48 for four after 8.2 overs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Halliday and Izzy Sharp then put on 62 for the fifth wicket as the former played the anchor role while the latter played slightly more expansively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A flighted delivery from Murray tempted Halliday (34) and she top-edged to Lara McBride at short fine leg with the score on 110, before Kelly removed Sharp (36) thanks to Prendergast\u2019s catch at long-off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Suzie Bates (19 not out) hit the final ball of the innings for six to take New Zealand to 140 for six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prendergast and Lewis almost pull it off<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bree Illing made sure that New Zealand got off to a fast start with the ball as she bowled Amy Hunter (2) with an in swinging yorker in the second over to leave the score at six for one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lewis and Prendergast, who was dropped on 10 by Nensi Patel at point, ensured Ireland bettered New Zealand\u2019s powerplay score as they reached 35 for one from their opening six overs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prendergast\u2019s excellent pull to the boundary off Illing at the end of the eighth over showed her intent as Lewis, who survived Kerr\u2019s LBW review in the next over, brought up the fifty partnership with a sweep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Needing 84 runs for victory from the remaining 60 balls, Lewis and Prendergast continued to combine rotating the strike with boundary hitting as the pair took 13 runs off Patel in the 13th over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prendergast passed 50 in the 15th over as Lewis followed suit in the 16th as Ireland brought their target down to 34 from the last four overs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Kerr struck twice in the 18th over to change the match. She removed Prendergast (59) and Rebecca Stokell (0) before Rosemary Mair saw off Lewis (58) to leave Ireland 123 for four with eight balls left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bates then held her nerve in the final over as Ireland ultimately fell just short of creating history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scores in brief<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n New Zealand v Ireland, Hampshire Bowl, Southampton<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n New Zealand:<\/strong> 140\/6 in 20 overs (Izzy Sharp 36, Brooke Halliday 34; Orla Prendergast 2\/26, Cara Murray 2\/26)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ireland:<\/strong> 136\/4 in 20 overs (Orla Prendergast 59, Gaby Lewis 58; Amelia Kerr 2\/23, Bree Illing 1\/18)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Result<\/strong>: New Zealand win by 4 runs.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New Zealand held off a magnificent effort from Ireland to win their first match of the ICC Women\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-14013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-cricket"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t