England beat Ireland in first ODI as Maia Bouchier scores century in team's highest run chase in the format
Maia Bouchier scores second ODI hundred as England reach target of 282 with 71 balls to spare to take 1-0 lead in three-match series; home side - who have rested key players including Nat Sciver-Brunt - sloppy with the ball and in the field; second ODI in Derby on Thursday (1pm start)
Tuesday 1 September 2026 20:28, UK
England breezed to their highest successful ODI chase after an iffy fielding and bowling performance as an experimental side beat Ireland by six wickets in the series opener at Leicester.
Maia Bouchier (104 off 95) and Sophia Dunkley (73 off 61) smoked 143 for the opening wicket inside 20 overs before Bouchier went on to notch her second ODI ton as England reached their target of 282 with 71 balls to spare.
Freya Kemp (36 off 22) drilled four fours in a row off Arlene Kelly in the 34th over - a feat Bouchier had managed off Jane Maguire towards the start of the chase - as the all-rounder dominated a 54-run partnership from 38 balls with Alice Capsey (41no off 40), after Capsey and Bouchier added 50 off 47.
- Scorecard: England vs Ireland, first ODI, Leicester
- Latest Sky Sports deals or stream no contract
- What cricket is live on Sky Sports and when?
England's previous record ODI run chase was the 267-8 they knocked off against Australia in Bristol during the home Ashes in 2023, a game in which Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont posted the two highest scores.
With Knight and Beaumont now retired and team stalwarts Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Amy Jones rested for this three-match assignment, Dunkley and Bouchier played the key roles, albeit aided by some error-strewn stuff from Ireland.
The tourists offered up way too many boundary balls and were also guilty of mis-fields - a blemish on the deep midwicket fence allowed Capsey to pump the winning four - as they slipped 1-0 down in a series that continues in Derby on Thursday (1pm) and then concludes in Worcester on Sunday (10.30am).
Capsey excels as wicketkeeper - but England scruffy in the field
England had been sloppy themselves in the Ireland innings, shipping 20 wides and 33 extras in total in the absence of spinner Sophie Ecclestone and seamer Lauren Bell, who, like captain Sciver-Brunt, Jones and Wyatt-Hodge, have been given these games off.
However, Capsey excelled as she kept wicket with Jones missing, taking a one-handed catch to her right in the fifth over and looking slick with the gloves throughout - if that continues over the next two matches, Jones' place could perhaps be in jeopardy moving forward.
Stand-in skipper Charlie Dean (2-44) was the pick of the bowlers, although Issy Wong (2-57) broke the 136-run stand between Ireland captain Gaby Lewis (69) and Amy Hunter (62) for the second wicket when she bowled the former through the gate.
Wong had made a scruffy start around nicking off Lewis' fellow opener Alice Tector (11) - the sister of men's Ireland internationals Harry and Tim Tector - sending down four wides outside off stump in a row in her third over of the game.
Lewis and Hunter, who ran superbly around hitting boundaries, propelled Ireland from 13-1 to 149-1, but the away side then lost three wickets for 35 runs once Lewis fell, with Hunter castled by Dean and Orla Prendergast (19) heaving Mady Villiers (1-46) to deep midwicket, where Bouchier claimed a terrific diving catch.
Ireland impress with the bat but well beaten in the end
Ireland rallied again through Rebecca Stokell (54no) and Leah Paul (29) putting on 84 from 71 balls for the fifth wicket, although the tourists only managed 24 runs, and no boundaries off the bat, across the final four overs shared by Dean and Wong.
Ireland did, however, earn four byes in Wong's final over when a ball thudded into Stokell's leg stump and raced away for four as the bails, somehow, stayed on.
The visitors' total looked a daunting one at halfway, particularly with England missing some senior batters, but the slapdash bowling and fielding meant the hosts were never really under pressure once the innings got going.
Ireland leg-spinner Cara Murray (3-58) caught and bowled Dunkley and cleaned up the inexperienced Jodi Grewcock (9) with a beautifully flighted delivery to reduce England to 173-2 in the 24th over, while Bouchier holed out off Kelly in the 32nd with 59 runs required.
Kemp was the final batter to fall, caught off Murray at deep midwicket looking to seal victory with a booming six.
Dean: England could have been tighter with the ball
England captain Charlie Dean, speaking at the presentation:
"It was amazing to chase a high total like that down, and the way that we did it - it's credit to the girls. Trying to take on the opening powerplay in 50-over cricket feels like good blueprint to have.
"Sophia and Maia did that remarkably, and didn't slow down after the powerplay, extending the partnership. For Maia to get a hundred was exceptional.
"We probably could have been a little tighter with the ball, to be honest, but to manage to restrict them, put on a performance like that and win in the end was brilliant.
"I can't fault the girls [for their fielding]. It wasn't for a lack of trying, but I think we can definitely sharpen up in the field and with the ball."
Watch the second ODI between England and Ireland, from Derby, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Mix from 12.30pm on Thursday (1pm first ball). Latest Sky Sports deals or stream contract-free with NOW.
England vs Ireland - ODI series results and schedule
All games live on Sky Sports; all times UK and Ireland
- Tuesday September 1: England win first ODI by six wickets
- Thursday September 3: Second ODI (Derby) - 1pm
- Sunday September 6: Third ODI (Worcester) - 10.30am
