Kate Cross stars with bat and ball in four-wicket England win

England 211 for 6 (Armitage 44, Cross 38*) beat Ireland 210 (Prendergast 76, Cross 6-30) by four wickets

Kate Cross claimed career-best figures with bat and ball on her captaincy debut to lead England to a four-wicket win over Ireland in the first ODI at Stormont.

Cross, leading a side featuring five ODI debutants in the absence of most of England’s T20 World Cup squad, was largely responsible for limiting the home side to 210 all out, her haul of 6 for 30 including Ireland’s top-scorer, Orla Prendergast, for 76.

She then helped repair the damage after Ireland had reduced the visitors to 156 for 6, hitting an unbeaten 38 that included the winning runs.

“There was a lot of nerves out there today,” Cross said. “When you’re captaining one debutant it can be quite hard but to have five on the pitch was a lot to manage so I was just really pleased with the first half in general, how we managed to restrict Ireland to what I thought was a below-par total and then we’ve chased it down.

“I’ve been there. When I was running in in Barbados for my debut I remember thinking, ‘just try and land it on the cut strip’ and that does go through your head as a player but sometimes it’s the unknown and a fear when they play on debut because they don’t know how they’ll go in international cricket. I think they coped with the occasion really well.”

Ireland opted to bat first in the opening match of the series and were well placed at 151 for 3, with star allrounder Prendergast going well. But Cross returned to break a stand of 77 with Leah Paul, and then mopped up the tail for her second ODI five-wicket haul.

Cross had struck in her first over, pinning Una Raymond-Hoey lbw, before Lauren Filer removed Ireland captain Gaby Lewis via a catch at slip. Hannah Baker, the legspinner winning her first cap in any format, then struck in her opening spell as Amy Hunter departed for 37.

Prendergast, who scored her maiden ODI hundred last month in Ireland’s series win over Sri Lanka, led the rebuilding effort but the innings folded quickly after her departure. Ryana MacDonald-Gay, another England debutant, bowled Rebecca Stokell, then Paul was run out by a combination of Freya Kemp and Bess Heath – two players who will be going to the World Cup in the UAE.

Ireland’s total was their highest in women’s ODIs against England, and they made a good start in its defence. Prendergast opened the bowling and removed Emma Lamb and Tammy Beaumont inside her first four overs to leave England 32 for 2.

Two debutants in Hollie Armitage (previously capped in T20Is) and Paige Scholfield steadied the ship with a stand of 62, before they were both dismissed in consecutive overs. Kemp showed her power with 26 off 19, but after she fell Mady Villiers was run out to leave England six down.

Heath was joined by Cross, with 55 needed and more than 20 overs in which to get them. The captain did the bulk of the scoring, finishing unbeaten with 38 from 36 balls, as England got home with 91 balls to spare.