Sorry Ireland still without a World Cup win

Sri Lanka (134/1) beat Ireland (130/5) by 9 wickets with 27 balls to spare

• Ireland reduced to 19/3 in the powerplay

• Gaby Lewis leads a fightback with support from Leah Paul and Alice Tector

• Ireland post an under-par 130/5

• Chamari Athapaththu (106 from 61 balls) dominates in Sri Lanka’s reply

On a scorching afternoon in Bristol, when umbrellas were used as parasols both on and off the pitch, Sri Lanka overcame Ireland in conditions more similar to Galle and Columbo than Stormont and Castle Avenue.

Batting first, Ireland were soon in trouble. Amy Hunter was needlessly run out and was swiftly followed by Orla Prendergast, who danced down the wicket to Sugandika Dasanayaka, only to be stumped when the ball passed her bat.

Gaby Lewis and Leah Paul dug in for the next 10 overs, hitting a run a ball and hoping to throw the bat later in the innings to push towards a total of 150. Mithali Ayodhya, she of the slingy action, whose arm comes through at an unfeasibly low angle, was proving very difficult to get away and Lewis knew that her team’s success now relied on her carrying her bat through the innings.

If Ireland’s innings had a silver lining, it was the performance of Alice Tector. The 18 year old provided more than ample batting support to her captain and once Lewis was out, clean bowled when trying to hit Athapaththu back over her head, it was Tector who took the lead, giving Ireland the big finish they needed to move their score onto 130.

Sri Lanka’s reply was dominated by one person: Chamari Athapaththu. From the very first ball of the innings, when she hit Aimee Maguire for four, she took control. Although batting alongside her fellow opener Imesha Dulani, Athapaththu batted as if she were farming the strike with a number 11 batter. Each over followed the same pattern: Chamari would hit, or attempt to hit boundaries from the first four balls. She would take a single from the fifth ball. And Dulani would defend the final ball. The Sri Lanka skipper faced 28 of the 36 balls in the powerplay, scoring 47 runs. Dulani faced 8 and scored 7.

By the 13^th over, Sri Lanka had scored 100 of the 130 runs required and the only question remaining was whether Athapaththu would reach her century. She duly did, from 58 balls, including 18 boundaries, and soon afterwards, Sri Lanka claimed an easy victory.

Sri Lanka are unrecognisable from the shambles of a team who were pulverised by England in the opening game. It’s just a shame that they began the tournament so slowly, thus scuppering their chances of progressing.

The only way that Sri Lanka could progress would be if Ireland can claim their first ever World Cup victory against the West Indies on Saturday, (plus Sri Lanka win their final games against Scotland, plus a massive Net Run Rate change). Ireland are not looking like a team who can achieve this. It feels that whilst teams like the Netherlands and Scotland are progressing, Ireland are stagnating.

Where will a player like Alice Tector find the competitive, professional environment to hone her talent in a way that she can become a world class player? This is a difficult question for Ireland to grapple with as they lick their wounds following a punishing and sobering tournament.