Alana Dalzell strode out at No 9 in the evening sunshine in Belfast last night with four runs needed to beat England from the final ball of a thrilling one-day international, and she struck the winning boundary to deliver a stunning three-wicket victory.

The Girls in Green looked to be winning the third match of the series with some ease as Gaby Lewis stroked 72 in pursuit of the visitors’ 153 all out in a contest reduced to 22 overs per side by persistent rain.

When captain Lewis nicked behind, having faced 56 deliveries and hit 10 fours, Ireland only needed 18 from 22 balls with seven wickets in hand, but Leah Paul who had added 51 with her skipper fell in the same over for spirited 22.

Wickets continued to fall and three went in as many balls as Ireland looked for eight runs from the final over: Una Raymond-Hoey dallied to be run out, and Alice Tector and Jane Maguire were both bowled.

Enter Dalzell, cool as you like, to hit spinner Mady Villiers back over head and watch the ball evade long on and dribble over the boundary.

The Girls in Green were battered and bruised by Monday’s thumping 275-run defeat which gave England a 2-0 winning lead in the ICC World Championship series, and were in danger of conceding another big total before Aimee Maguire removed Tammy Beaumont for a top score of 52.

Player-of-the-match Maguire continued to bamboozle the England batters with her left-arm spin, restoring pride to the home side with a superb spell of 5-19 from 3.5 overs, and Lewis and Dalzell made sure her fine work didn’t go to waste.
 
England may have already taken victory in the three-match series, but this was more than a mere consolation win for Ireland after a more than two-decade wait.

“We bounced back brilliantly today -- credit to the girls, I couldn’t have asked more,” Lewis said, as she celebrated only Ireland’s second victory over the near neighbours.

“You do feel as captain you want to lead by example and I was a bit disappointed by the first two games so I was delighted to be in the runs here.”