Ireland claim first T20 World Cup win with upset over West Indies
Ireland's women's cricket team secured their first ever T20 World Cup victory by defeating West Indies by six wickets in Bristol.
Ireland earned a historic win at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup on Sunday, beating West Indies by six wickets in Bristol. The victory was their first in the tournament after losing all 21 previous matches across five editions.
West Indies, semi-final hopefuls and 2016 champions, batted first and posted 128-7. Ireland's bowlers restricted the powerful West Indies lineup, with spinner Cara Murray taking 2-13, including the key wicket of Hayley Matthews for 22. Chinelle Henry top-scored with an unbeaten 27, but the lower order could not accelerate enough.
In reply, Ireland lost captain Gaby Lewis cheaply, but Amy Hunter (28) steadied the chase alongside Orla Prendergast. Prendergast smashed 63 from 44 balls, hitting eight fours and two sixes. After her dismissal in the 16th over, 21 runs were needed from 28 balls, but Rebecca Stokell remained calm with an unbeaten 16 to seal the win with 11 balls to spare.
Despite the loss, West Indies are not eliminated: if New Zealand lose to England later on Saturday, West Indies will advance due to a better net run-rate than Sri Lanka. Ireland, however, failed to secure a top-four group finish and will join Scotland in the 2028 tournament qualifying rounds.
