Shauna Kavanagh stars in Scorchers' thrilling win over Dragons in Super Series 50 match

Cup finally got underway with defending champions Scorchers beating Dragons in a thriller at the North County Cricket Club in Balbriggan on Sunday (May 8). First match of the tournament was washed out on May 1. Shauna Kavanagh was the star with the bat for Scorchers as they eked out a one-wicket win.

Opting to bowl first after Sophie MacMahon won the toss, Scorchers had a dream start with Jane Maguire removing Drangons’ skipper Leah Paul and Amy Hunter in consecutive deliveries for ducks.

From there, Orla Prendergast tried to steady things with Sarah Forbes, but once both fell in consecutive overs, Dragons succumbed from 37 for 2 to 91 for 9 as Scorchers’ bowlers struck in regular intervals.

However, a last wicket partnership between Mollie Devine and Kate McEvoy saw Dragons recover from that stage. Together they added 57 runs for the last wicket to give their innings some respectability. Devine made 27, while McEvoy remained unbeaten on 23 as Dragons were bundled out for 148 in 43 overs.

For Scorchers, Maguire finished with figures of three for 20 from her nine overs with Rachel Delaney taking two wickets for 19.

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In the chase, Prendergast bowled Delaney early just for four. Siúin Woods and Anna Kerrison took Scorchers to 45 before Woods fell to a run out. It seemed like Kerrison and Kavanagh will take Scorchers home without any further troubles.

But once Alana Dalzell removed Kerrison for 25 and an aggressive MacMahon fell to Devine with the score reading 97, Scorchers lost wickets in a cluster even as Kavanagh watched from the other end.

Scorchers went from 97 for 3 to 146 for 9, but with Kavanagh staying strong with a run-a-ball 45, they snuck home in the 36^th over.

For Dragons, Prendergast was the best bowler on display with figures of two for 13 from six overs.

Brief Scores: Dragons 148/10 in 43 overs (Mollie Devine 27, Orla Prendergast 24; Jane Maguire 3/20) lost to Scorchers 149/9 in 35.2 overs (Shauna Kavanagh 45*, Anna Kerrison 25; Orla Prendergast 2/13) by one wicket