Bristol: A decent bowling effort followed by Orla Prendergast’s anchor half-century helped Ireland beat West Indies by six wickets in the 27th match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the County Ground on Saturday.
Ireland captain KP Lewis opted to bat first and restricted the West Indies to a modest total of 128/7, with Aimee Maguire and Cara Murray picking up two wickets each conceding just 22 and 13 runs in 4 overs.
Jane Maguire, Arlene Kelly and Prendergast took one wicket each for them.
Sinel Henry top-scored for West Indies with an unbeaten 27 off 21 balls, followed by captain Hayley Mathews’ 22 off 25 balls.
Apart from them, Deandra Totin and Stefanie Taylor scored double figures with 21 and 16 respectively.
In turn, Ireland chased down a target of 129 runs with the help of Prendergast’s half-century in 4 wickets and 11 balls.
The experienced all-rounder paced Ireland’s run chase with a 44-ball 63, laced with eight fours and two sixes, to finish as their highest score, while Amy Hunter and Rebecca Stogall contributed with 28 and 16 respectively.
Ashmini Munizhar was the pick of the West Indies bowlers, picking up two wickets for just 28 runs in her four overs, while Affi Fletcher and skipper Mathews picked up a wicket each.
The 6-wicket win marked Ireland’s first win in the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup and came after four straight defeats against Scotland, England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively.
Moreover, the result of the match also screened Sri Lanka’s semi-final hopes as the island nation wanted Ireland to beat the West Indies by a huge margin to dethrone the 2016 champions.
Instead, it eased the equation for defending champions New Zealand, who finished third with four points, as they now need to beat leaders England in their final group-stage game to beat both Sri Lanka and the West Indies to qualify for the semi-finals.