Bryony Smith makes most of her chance to lead England victory

September 15, 2024
3:44 am

England 176 (Smith 58, Villiers 35) beat Ireland 109 (Prendergast 52, Pavely 3-19) by 67 runs

Bryony Smith responded to her England recall in punchy style with a quickfire half-century to set her team up for an emphatic 67-run victory over Ireland in the first of three T20Is in Dublin.

Opening alongside Tammy Beaumont, Smith scored 58 runs off just 30 balls as England were bowled out for 176 off the last ball of their innings. Freya Sargent and Aimee Maguire each took identical figures of 3 for 30 from four overs for the hosts.

Charis Pavely, the 19-year-old left-arm spinner then took 3 for 19 on debut to help England bowl Ireland out for just 109 in reply, Orla Prendergast the only home batter to pass 25 with her 34-ball 52.

Issy Wong, playing her first T20I in a year, was England’s next-best bowler with 2 for 14, including Ireland captain Gaby Lewis, who had said her side were targeting a 2-0 series win in the T20s after her side won the third ODI, a dead rubber.

“I’ve been out the team for a couple of years now in the T20s,” Smith said. “”I’ve always said I don’t really feel like I’ve had my go at the top of the order so it’s nice to get out there and get some runs today. It was a really good pitch, I think, but I just keep things really simple when I bat. When it comes off, it comes off, it might not always look pretty, but I felt really good, seeing the ball well, and it came off today.

“It’s always exciting when you get the call up. I didn’t get to go in the ODIs, which I was disappointed with but you’re never really going to say no to an England call-up. It’s obviously tough missing the last few games for Stars because I’ve got an important role there, but it felt like this was a chance for me to put my name into the hat.”

Smith played the last of her eight T20Is before this one two years ago, when England hosted India, scoring 13 not out from 14 balls and taking 1 for 19 as England won by seven wickets to seal a 2-1 series victory. She has played just one ODI, against West Indies in 2019.

In this year’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, she sits tenth on the leading run-scorers list with 402 runs at 36.54 and a strike rate of 87.20, while in the Charlotte Edwards Cup T20 competition she was 15th with 206 runs at 20.60 and 124.84.

On Saturday, Smith said she had been receiving updates as her South East Stars side defeated Southern Vipers by three wickets to reach next weekend’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy final against Sunrisers. “Definitely looked a bit close… but excited for them,” she added.

Pavely was one of four debutants in the match against Ireland, along with Georgia Adams, Paige Scholfield and Seren Smale.

With England’s first-choice squad preparing for next month’s T20 World Cup, a number of players took their chance to show what they can do, led by Smith, who struck 12 fours in her innings. Mady Villiers, making her first England appearance in the format, was England’s next-highest run-scorer with 35 off 15 balls. Villiers also took 1 for 9 from 2.3 overs and was instrumental in running out Predergast.

But it was Pavely who shone with the ball when she had Rebecca Stokell caught behind by Smale for a five-ball duck, bowled Arlene Kelly for 1 and took a return catch to remove Ava Canning, Ireland’s next-best batter with a run-a-ball 25.

The teams face a fast turn-around with the next match to be played on Sunday, also in Dublin.