Orla Prendergast's searing opening spell too good for Scorchers

A searing opening spell from Orla Prendergast (4 for 10) laid the foundation to Typhoons' thumping eight-wicket victory over Scorchers in the penultimate match of the Super50 competition at the Merrion Cricket Club Ground in Dublin on Sunday (September 20).



Prendergast was on the money straight away, after skipper Laura Delany won the toss and elected to bowl. The tall right-arm seamer struck with only her second delivery of the game, castling Tess Maritz with a superb inswinger that pitched on a length just outside off stump and snuck through the bat-pad gap before crashing into middle stump.



For Scorchers, it was a sign of things to come. Skipper Gaby Lewis was the next to go, caught (quite strangely) by Rebecca Stokell off Prendergast. Lewis, who got an inside edge to the ball before it ballooned to first slip stood her ground, convinced that the catch had not carried. Typhoons too were rather hesitant in their appeal - Prendergast simply making her way back to her mark. However, after some consultation between the two umpires, Lewis was adjudged out, leaving her side two down inside three overs.



Matters became worse for the team in orange with Prendergast accounting for two more wickets - Shauna Kavanagh and Alana Dalzell both bowled - to help reduce Scorchers to 20 for 6 in 8.4 overs.



ALSO READ: Amy Hunter, Orla Prendergast star in Typhoons' comfortable win



After Prendergast was taken out of the attack, Sophie MacMahon (15) and Amy Kerrison (14) attempted to stem the rot with a 32-run stand for the seventh wicket, but once the former was bowled by Gough, Scorchers were rolled out for 63 in just 25.2 overs. The pair's contributions aside, the rest of the line-up only mustered a total of four runs between them with Typhoons gifting 30 runs in extras, including 16 wides and five no-balls.



Prendergast was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets while Zara Craig finished with figures of 2 for 3.



In reply, Katie McEvoy removed Rachel Delaney in the third over to rock Typhoons' chase early. However, opener Sarah Forbes and Stokell took the attack to the bowlers and made sure Scorchers were never in the game after that.



The pair played some delightful strokes, finding the boundary five times in their 54-run stand for the second wicket. Stokell was the aggressor, scoring a 33-ball 27 before she smacked a full toss from left-arm spinner Jennifer Hanna straight to Maritz at deep mid-wicket.



Skipper Delany (6*) then joined hands with Forbes (28*) and helped quickly polish off the chase as Typhoons romped home in 14.4 overs.



Brief scores: Scorchers 63 in 25.2 overs (Orla Prendergast 4-10, Zara Craig 2-3) lost to Typhoons 66/2 in 14.4 overs (Sarah Forbes 28*, Rebecca Stokell 27) by eight wickets.