England’s evolution continues with win over Ireland

• Sophia Dunkley scores run-a-ball 119

• England collapse to 291 all out after a strong start

• Murray the pick of the Ireland bowlers

• Villiers and Filer take 3 wickets each for England

• Amy Hunter (39) top scores for Ireland as visitors fall well short of target

  
  

England (291 all out) beat Ireland (177 all out) by 114 runs

England ended their 2026 season in style with another convincing win against Ireland. 

New Road, Worcester was bathed in early Autumn sunshine for this One Day International. The horse chestnut tree by the Graeme Hick pavilion is beginning to shed its conkers as its leaves turn from the bright green of high summer to equinoctial tawny hues, and players across the country prepare to store away their cricket equipment for another year. 

There is, in my humble opinion, no better place in England to watch cricket than this magnificent ground, which still retains some of its old-fashioned timbered stands, with a breathtaking view of the ancient cathedral framed by the arboreal beauty of rural England: towering giants of willow and ash and oak pay homage to the architectural achievements of Mediaeval builders on one side of the river and the skilled wielders of willow and leather on the other, whilst the distant chiming of bells marks the passing of time.

Gaby Lewis won the toss for Ireland and invited England to bat. Sophia Dunkley and Maia Bouchier, once again opening for England, continued in much the same vein they had batted in the previous two ODIs. At Leicester, they shared an opening partnership of 143, at Derby, 54 and today at Worcester, 73. This combination at the top of the order is showing promise for Charlotte Edwards as she looks to find a long-term replacement for Tammy Beaumont.

Bouchier in particular looked in great form, middling the ball with fierce regularity, sending it to the boundary on half a dozen occasions before badly miscuing a delivery from Kia McCartney, looping a simple catch to Gaby Lewis at extra cover to be dismissed for 39. It was a classic Bouchier innings followed by a classic Bouchier dismissal. She looks great, then somehow gets herself out. It’s the reason she has been in and out of the team since making her début exactly five years ago. Her ability is unquestionable. Her reliability is very much up for debate.

If anybody is well qualified to give Bouchier advice about becoming more reliable, it is probably Sophia Dunkley. 2026 has been the year when England has learned to trust the Surrey batter. Not enough to play her in the World Cup Final, although she played well when required in that tournament. But the retirement of Heather Knight opens a slot in the team for her to make her own. Today, she showed why. Starting more sedately than her opening partner, Dunkley became the glue that kept England’s innings together.

Following the dismissal of Bouchier in the 12^th over, Jodie Grewcock joined Dunkley at the crease. The Essex left hander may be early in her England career, but she is very much under scrutiny after some low scores and timid performances since making her début against New Zealand in May. The match situation today was set up perfectly for her. Enough time had gone for the shine to have left the ball, but enough time was left for her to bat for a substantial period and get a significant score. She was playing a One Day International against one of the weaker full member nations, whose bowling attack is not as strong as others she could be facing. If Jodi Grewcock was going to succeed, today was the day. 

In reality she neither failed nor succeeded. Her score of 35 from 46 balls was cautious, pedestrian, insecure and uninspiring, but it wasn’t a failure. She only hit two boundaries. She defended well, but probably was a bit too risk-averse in her approach. She shared a 110 run partnership with Dunkley from 117 balls, but was happy to be the junior partner in both proportion of balls faced (39%) and strike rate (Dunkley 105, Grewcock 76). Is she worth persevering with? Yes. Is she close to the finished article? No.

Grewcock’s dismissal, tamely looping a return catch to Cara Murray, was in keeping with the tone of her innings and was what England needed. In the 31^st over with 183 on the board, England needed to push on towards 350 and to do that they needed their middle order hitters to enter the fray.

Alice Capsey looked good, stroking the ball around the park, but finding fielders rather than the boundary before falling to the unluckiest of dismissals: a straight drive from Dunkley cannoned into the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Bowler Kia McCartney helped the umpires with their decision by shaking her bruised finger tips in pain and her touch on the ball was confirmed by the TV umpire.

Freya Kemp joined Dunkley, who had reached her century in the 29^th over, giving a tantalising possibility that if she kept going, she could be threatening Charlotte Edwards’ record score of 173, which has stood for nearly 30 years. In the 36^th over, having hit Lara McBride for a four, Dunkley tried to hit her for a six, only for Orla Prendergast to expertly pirouette as she took the catch right by the boundary rope. Dunkley’s innings of 119 from 119 balls was over, and with it a lot of the momentum that England at one point had, was lost.

Freya Kemp was dismissed by another boundary catch, this time by Gaby Lewis. Dean and Villiers came and went in quick succession and suddenly what looked like a potential total of over 350 was in danger of becoming a total below 300 and England were in danger of not using up all 50 overs. Dani Gibson, who had batted smartly for 41, her joint highest score for England, took a perilous second run in order to keep the strike in the 49^th over.

Her resulting dismissal – the impressive Amy Hunter demolishing the stumps before she made her ground, meant that Lauren Filer and Tilly Corteen-Coleman, England’s number 10 and 11 batters, had to try to survive the final 12 balls and accumulate some runs in the process. 

They survived for 4 balls, accumulated 1 run and Filer was dismissed by the fifth ball of the penultimate over, meaning England had scored 291 from 48.5 overs, leaving 7 deliveries unused and plenty of unscored runs out there. It seemed unlikely that Ireland would chase down 292 to win, but England’s carelessness and lack of batting depth was their undoing. 

If England want to replicate the depth of team such as Australia, one feels they need to find a place for players like Charis Pavely, who was once again carrying the drinks today. If England find themselves 167/1 after 28 overs against Australia in the Ashes next summer, they have to turn that into a score of 350 or more after 50 overs, because Australia will chase down anything less.

For Ireland, it was Cara Murray who put in a stand-out bowling performance. Her 4/56 represented a good day’s work for the spin bowler who uses loop and flight to tantalise and deceive the batters. Kia McCartney also bowled excellently and Ireland can be very pleased by the development of the 21-year-old from Coleraine, winning only her fifth cap today.

When Ireland batted, it became obvious that their strategy was to not lose wickets and to take the game as deep as they could, without worrying too much about run rates. After losing Gaby Lewis, caught in the deep by Ryana McDonald-Gay from the bowling of Lauren Filer in the fifth over, Alice Tector and Amy Hunter battened down the hatches and dealt in dots and singles for much of the next hour.

When Tector was bowled by Corteen-Coleman in the 20^th over, one sensed that Hunter and Prendergast needed to stay together for the next 20 overs to give Ireland any chance. However, both were removed by Mady Villiers, the Durham spinner once again showing her worth with a tidy spell, her three wickets a well-deserved reward for doing the basic things well.

Leah Paul and Louise Little showed some spirited resistance, the latter launching Ryana McDonald-Gay for a huge six before being bowled by Corteen-Coleman. Arlene Kelly, playing her final game for Ireland, followed the example of Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont earlier this summer and did not linger for long, a six ball, two run cameo was all she could offer before being applauded off the field, giving Charlie Dean her only wicket of the day.

And so in the 45^th over it came to an end. Kia McCartney was a rabbit in the headlights facing Lauren Filer and quickly had her stumps re-arranged. England had won by 114 runs, a comfortable win which owed much to the batting of Sophia Dunkley, who was the only batter form either side who looked at ease with the conditions today.

Ireland captain Gaby Lewis was generous and philosophical in her assessment of the Ireland performance across the series. Scoring 281 in the first game was definitely the high point. The bowling performance today was a big improvement on what had gone before. In reality the highs and lows of Ireland’s season can be summarised by the four games they played against the West Indies.

Beating them in the T20 World Cup was one of the best performances of any team in that competition, but subsequently losing their home ODI series 3-0, with the West Indies winning comprehensively on each occasion, must be the most disappointing aspect of the summer, as that was their chance to demonstrate their progress in the longer form of the game.   

For England, they did what was expected. Sophia Dunkley and Maia Bouchier have had a really good week, bolstering their reputations. Issy Wong has done herself no harm by taking 5 wickets at Derby. Charlie Dean is an authoritative and energetic captain. 

It is a shame that Charis Pavely did not get a game. Kira Chathli and Grace Potts seemed slightly odd selections and neither was given an opportunity to demonstrate their skills. Charlotte Edwards talked up Alice Capsey’s performance as a wicket-keeper, saying she is a good option for T20 cricket, but Amy Hunter looked a much better keeper than Capsey throughout the series – tidy and clinical, particularly when collecting the ball from the outfield and executing run-outs, such as the dismissal of Dani Gibson today. Capsey made no obvious mistakes, but there is some work still to do to make her as good as she needs to be.

And so the international season for 2026 is over. England are better than they were two years ago, but not as good as they need to be to win serious silverware or regain the Ashes. There will be a big focus on red ball cricket over the winter in preparation for the Headingley Test Match in June 2027. The ability of individuals to hit centuries and the team as a whole to build innings of significantly more than 200 will be crucial in the 2027 Ashes campaign.