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Bryony Smith makes most of her chance to lead England victory

Opening alongside Tammy Beaumont , Smith scored 58 runs off just 30 balls as England were bowled out for 176 off the last ball of their innings. Freya Sargent and Aimee Maguire each took identical figures of 3 for 30 from four overs for the hosts.
Charis Pavely the 19-year-old left-arm spinner then took 3 for 19 on debut to help England bowl Ireland out for just 109 in reply, Orla Prendergast the only home batter to pass 25 with her 34-ball 52.
Isssy Wong playing her first T20I in a year, was England’s next-best bowler with 2 for 14, including Ireland captain Gaby Lewis, who had said her side were targeting a 2-0 series win in the T20s after her side won the third ODI, a dead rubber.
“I’ve been out the team for a couple of years now in the T20s,” Smith said. “”I’ve always said I don’t really feel like I’ve had my go at the top of the order so it’s nice to get out there and get some runs today. It was a really good pitch, I think, but I just keep things really simple when I bat. When it comes off, it comes off, it might not always look pretty, but I felt really good, seeing the ball well, and it came off today.
“It’s always exciting when you get the call up. I didn’t get to go in the ODIs, which I was disappointed with but you’re never really going to say no to an England call-up. It’s obviously tough missing the last few games for Stars because I’ve got an important role there, but it felt like this was a chance for me to put my name into the hat.”
Smith played the last of her eight T20Is before this one two years ago, when England hosted India, scoring 13 not out from 14 balls and taking 1 for 19 as England won by seven wickets to seal a 2-1 series victory. She has played just one ODI, against West Indies in 2019.
In this year’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, she sits tenth on the leading run-scorers list with 402 runs at 36.54 and a strike rate of 87.20, while in the Charlotte Edwards Cup T20 competition she was 15th with 206 runs at 20.60 and 124.84.
On Saturday, Smith said she had been receiving updates as her South East Stars side defeated Southern Vipers by three wickets to reach next weekend’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy final against Sunrisers. “Definitely looked a bit close… but excited for them,” she added.
Pavely was one of four debutants in the match against Ireland, along with Georgia Adams, Paige Scholfield and Seren Smale.
With England’s first-choice squad preparing for next month’s T20 World Cup, a number of players took their chance to show what they can do, led by Smith, who struck 12 fours in her innings. Mady Villiers making her first England appearance in the format, was England’s next-highest run-scorer with 35 off 15 balls. Villiers also took 1 for 9 from 2.3 overs and was instrumental in running out Predergast.
But it was Pavely who shone with the ball when she had Rebecca Stokell caught behind by Smale for a five-ball duck, bowled Arlene Kelly for 1 and took a return catch to remove Ava Canning, Ireland’s next-best batter with a run-a-ball 25.
The teams face a fast turn-around with the next match to be played on Sunday, also in Dublin.
Brief scores:
England 176 in 20 overs (Bryony Smith 58, Tammy Beaumont 27, Seren Smale 25, Mady Villiers 35; Freya Sargent 3-30, Aimee Maguire 3-30, Jane Maguire 2-25 ) beat Ireland 109 in 18.3 overs (Orla Prendergast 52, Ava Canning 25; Mahika Gaur 1-23, Kate Cross 1-27, Issy Wong 2-14, Charis Pavely 3-19, Maddy Villers 1-09) by 67 runs
(Cricinfo)
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Ireland surge ahead despite Muzarabani’s heroics

Ireland and Zimbabwe continued to zigzag with the flow yet again in Bulawayo but it was the visitors who were better placed at the end of the day. barry McCarthy’s toil and versatility combined with Andy McBrine’s consistency provided them with the hope of capturing a substantial lead.
Blessing Muzarabani thought otherwise. His inspired 67-run stand for the tenth wicket with Trevor Gwandu took Zimbabwe from a position of danger into the comforts of a slender lead. But it was a sign of the pitch easing out, something Ireland’s top order didn’t waste.
Peter Moor dispatched Muzarabani, who didn’t bowl consistent lines, as Ireland raced to 42 for 0 in seven overs. Richard Ngarava got one to angle away to ensure Moor’s 33 didn’t grow to become a good score, but his partner, Andy Balbirnie, joined Curtis Campher to ensure Ireland went to stumps unscathed.
Brief scores:
Ireland 260 and 83 for 1 in 21 overs (Andy Balbirnie 32*, Peter Moor 30; Richard Ngarava 1-25) lead Zimbabwe 267 in 86.1 overs (Nick Welch 90, Blessing Muzarabani 47; Barry McCarthy 4-75, Andy McBrine 3-59) by 76 runs
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Malintha bags ten wickets as St. Sebastian’s book semi-final ticket

A painstaking knock of 49 runs by Kaveesha Perera and a valuable half century by Navod Fernando helped St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa pull of exciting four wickets victory over St. Anthony’s College Katugastota in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ cricket quarter-final at Gajaba Regiment Ground Saliyapura, Anuradhapura on Friday.
It was a huge turnaround for the Sebs after conceding a first innings deficit of 51 runs. Tournament’s highest wicket taker, Malintha Silva’s six wicket haul in the second innings was the turning point as Sebs dismissed St. Anthony’s for 103 runs. Malintha collected a match bag of ten wickets.
Chasing 149 runs for victory St. Sebastian’s lost three wickets for 40 runs but Navod Fernando’s 58 runs and Kaveesha’s 131-ball 49 helped them ease nerves and reach the target with a session to spare.
Now St. Sebastian’s will meet the winners of the match between St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s in the semi-final on 12, 13 and 14 at Samadi Ground Anuradhapura.
In the other quarter-final, first innings points were enough for Royal to advance to the semi-final.
Despite having a huge first innings lead, Royal decided not to enforce the follow-on. They posted 248 runs thanks to an unbeaten 122 runs by Vimath Dinsara. In their second essay S. Thomas’ were 186 for three wickets at close.
Now, Royal will wait for a decision by a SLSCA committee to see who would be their semi-final opponents from the Mahanama-Trinity match. The quarter-final between Mahanama and Trinity did not last the full distance after Mahanama disputed a move by the ground staff to roll the wicket earlier than the scheduled time and pulled out. Trinity were ahead in the first innings. The committee were scheduled to meet in the morning on Saturday (8) to take a decision.
Match Details
At Gajaba Regiment Ground Saliyapura, Anuradhapura
Scores
St. Anthony’s 204 all out in 70 overs (Sanuka Kalpana 41, Charuka Ekanayake 24, Kevan Fernando 89n.o.; Risinu Prabesh 2/21, Malintha Silva 4/60) and 103 all out in 35.4 overs (Okitha Fernando 29, Charuka Ekanayake 21, Kevan Fernando 28; Malintha Silva 6/54, Shenas Hashein 3/23)
St. Sebastian’s 159 all out in 67 overs (Ushen Silva 33, Ryan Dissanayake 33, Navod Fernando 34; Charuka Ekanayake 3/66, Dinura Ganegoda 3/20, Kevan Fernando 2/09) and 00 for 1 overnight 149 for 6 in 51.1 overs (Kaveesha Perera 49, Navod Fernando 58; Charuka Ekanayake 2/33, Ryan Gregory 2/24, Sadew Amarakoon 2/22)
At Samadi Ground Anuradhapura
Scores
Royal 301 all out in 102.4 overs (Hirun Liyanarachchi 22, Rehan Peiris 82, Ramiru Perera 81, Yasindu Dissanayake 58; Kavindu Dias 2/69, Abheeth Paranawidana 2/66, Minon Warnasuriya 2/37) and 50 for 2 overnight 248 all out in 63.5 overs (Isula Geeganage 47, Vimath Dinsara 122n.o, Ramiru Perera 25; Abheeth Paranawidana 3/63, Aaron de Silva 3/48)
S. Thomas’ 120 all out in 58.2 overs (Dineth Goonewardene 28, Sachitha Gunasinghe 33; Sehandu Sooriyaarachchi 5/31, Ranuka Malaviarachchi 2/39) and 186 for 3 in 39 overs (Sadew Soysa 57, Jaden Amaraweera 46, Dineth Gunawardana 44n.o., Mithila Charles 34n.o.)
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President and representatives of IMF discuss progress of EFF

A comprehensive discussion regarding the progress of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) took place on Thursday (06) at the Presidential Secretariat, between President Anura Kumara Disanayake and the IMF delegation.
The current government has already reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on the third review regarding the extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of USD3 billion.
The details of this review are expected to be presented to the International Monetary Fund’s Board of Directors by the end of this month. In this regard, discussions were held regarding the progress and the government’s involvement in continuing the program moving forward.
Once the approval is granted by the IMF Executive Board, Sri Lanka is expected to release the fourth tranche of the extended loan, amounting to 333 million dollars.
The discussion was also attended by IMF Executive Director Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Alternate Executive Director Dr. P. K. G. Harischandra, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Mahinda Siriwadana, and Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe.
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