Prendergast stars again as Ireland sweep ODI series against Zimbabwe

Ireland completed a 2-0 ODI series sweep over Zimbabwe with a comfortable four-wicket win in the second ODI in Belfast on Monday (July 28). They followed up their 3-0 whitewash in the T20Is.

Zimbabwe were bowled out for 178 at the start of the final over after choosing to bat first. Orla Prendergast remained unbeaten on 67 and skipper Gaby Lewis scored 44, leading Ireland to overhaul the target with more than 11 overs to spare.

Zimbabwe suffered another top-order collapse, being reduced to 54/4 in the 17th over after a slow start. Alana Dalzell took two wickets in her opening spell. Skipper Chipo Mugeri (56) and Modester Mupachikwa (45) helped Zimbabwe recover with a 94-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

Cara Murray broke the partnership, and the well-settled pair fell in quick succession, triggering a second collapse. Zimbabwe folded for 30 runs more, finishing at 178 all out. Dalzell finished with impressive figures of 4 for 36 from her 10 overs.

Ireland also lost wickets at regular intervals, but with no pressure from a large target, the middle-order absorbed the pressure. Sarah Forbes and Amy Hunter were dismissed in the PowerPlay with 46 runs on the board. Lewis and Prendergast then put on a 49-run stand to rebuild the innings. Lewis missed out on a fifty by six runs.

Prendergast went on to score her third half-century of the series, guiding Ireland to victory. She hit seven boundaries in her unbeaten 67 off 72 balls, winning both the Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards.

Brief scores:

Zimbabwe 178 all out in 49.1 overs (Chipo Mugeri 56, Modester Mupachikwa 45; Alana Dalzell 4-36, Lara McBride 3-22) lost to Ireland 182/6 in 38.5 overs (Orla Prendergast 67*, Gaby Lewis 44; Loreen Tshuma 4-35) by four wickets