Ireland went down to a tame 67-run defeat to England in the Certa international series at Clontarf yesterday, although it wasn’t for want of effort by star player Orla Prendergast.

The Pembroke all-rounder began the day badly, coughing up 31 runs off her two overs and having a catch put down, but she recovered well in the field, holding three fine catches and securing a run-out.

With the bat she was her imperious best, counter-attacking to a fifth T20 fifty as wickets tumbled at the other end. When she was out, for 52, her next best team-mate had made 5.

Ireland’s teenage spinners had another productive day, Aimee Maguire and Freya Sargent returning identical figures of 4-0-30-3. They hauled the game back from England, who were 96-1 at the half-way mark and set for a score far above 200.

They reached 170-5 with two overs left from Sargent and Jane Maguire, but were all out for 176.

It was still a formidable score, but Ireland lost wickets too often to ever challenge. Besides Prendergast’s fifty, there was a career-best 24 by Ava Canning before Ireland were dismissed for 109 in the 19th over.

The second match in the series takes place today at 2.45, also shown live on VM2.