[Watch] Ireland women clinch historic T20I win over England women with one ball to spare
Ireland women's cricket team beat their English counterparts for the first time in a T20I as they won the thrilling second game of the series in Dublin by five wickets with one ball to spare. Mady Villiers missed a throw as Christina Coulter Reilly ran two runs to help her side chase 170 off the second-last ball of the innings.
England's Mady Villiers was given the responsibility of bowling the final over with seven runs required, having bowled three wicketless overs and conceded 24 runs.
Leah Paul took a single to give the strike to Sarah Forbes, who departed after scoring a boundary. Eva Canning perished for a golden duck and it came down to Reilly. The right-hander played a half-hearted shot down the ground, which was stopped by Villiers, but she failed to hit the stumps with a direct throw, resulting in overthrows.
The duo completed a quick double, with Paul putting in a despairing dive at the non-striker's end to complete the run-chase. The Irish women leveled the two-match the series, leaving Villiers distraught.
Orla Prendergast spearheaded Ireland's run-chase with 80 off 51
While chasing a target of 170, the hosts lost Amy Hunter cheaply in the first over. However, the partnership between Orla Prendergast and skipper Gaby Lewis formed the building blocks of the run-chase. The pair put on 79 runs together before Lewis perished for 38 off 35 deliveries. Prendergast exited the stage in the 19th over of the innings with 163 on the board, but what should have been a comfortable win for Ireland got slightly nervy in the end.
Prendergast was also named the Player of the Match award as she took two wickets before hitting a 51-ball 80. Arlene Kelly and Aimee McGuire had also picked up two scalps apiece to restrict the tourists to 169/8. Tammy Beaumont had top-scored for England with 40 off 34 balls with seven boundaries.