It was back to the drawing board for Gaby Lewis at Derby as her Ireland side were bowled out for 165 and lost the second one-day international to England by six wickets, and with it the three-match series.
After an impressive batting display in the opening match which produced 281 runs, only Amy Hunter got to grips with the England attack — her top score of 64 took 96 balls and contained four boundaries.
Orla Prendergast and Leah Paul both got starts but fell for 25 and 23 respectively as the ‘Girls in Green’ were bowled out in 47 overs.
It was an impossible target to defend with the pitch easing, but Kia McCartney showed her potential with a couple of victims and Prendergast and Cara Murray also registered in the wickets column before England completed their win with 27 overs to spare.
“That was pretty disappointing,” skipper Lewis said. “It was a trickier pitch to bat on at the start and we struggled up top. That put the pressure on us, and we weren’t able to take the extra risk against their accuracy.
“For a good 20 overs there were some positives again. We need to focus on those, dust ourselves off and go again on Sunday.”
The final match of the series will be played at Worcester, where Ireland will look for their first World Cup qualifying points at the sixth attempt, having lost 3-0 to the West Indies in July.