Indian eves beat Ireland in practice match

Savar: The Indian women`s cricket team clinched a facile 26-run triumph over Ireland to sign off their warm-up engagements on a positive note ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 Championships here today.

Put into bat, the Indians made 148 for four before restricting Ireland to 122 for nine. The Indian team had earlier lost the first practice game to New Zealand. Poonam Raut struck an unbeaten 40-ball 50 while skipper Mithali Raj scored a 34-ball 42 to power India to 148 for four. It was a good batting practice for the Indians with most of the top-order getting a decent outing in the match. There was nothing spectacular about the Irish bowling effort as the Indians scored freely. In reply, the Irish were off to a steady start with openers Clare Shillington (47) and Emma Flanagan (16) putting on 61 runs. But post their dismissal by pacer Shikha Pandey, the Irish line-up collapsed miserably and failed to put up much of a fight against a disciplined Indian bowling. Shikha was the pick of the Indian bowlers, grabbing three wickets in her four overs which cost 24 runs. Fellow medium-pacer Soniya Dabir picked up two wickets in her three overs, during which she conceded 20 runs. Brief Scores: India Women: 148/4 in 20 overs (Poonam Raut 50, Mithali Raj 42) Ireland Women: 122/9 (Clare Shillington 47, Shikha Pandey 3/24).