Key events
20th over: England 111-1 (Dunkley 57, Grewcock 10) A handful of singles off McBridge.
ShareFifty for Sophia Dunkley
19th over: England 106-1 (Dunkley 55, Grewcock 8) With a single into the covers, Dunkley picks up an excellent fifty – 63 balls, six thumping fours. She celebrates with four chunked down the ground off Murray.
18th over: England 99-1 (Dunkley 49, Grewcock 7) They pause for drinks, then more offspin from McBride. We haven’t had a TV shot of the cathedral but somewhere over the boundary it has its eye on proceedings. Short from McBride. Grewcock pulls but well saved on the rope.
17th over: England 94-1 (Dunkley 47, Grewcock 4) Murray tosses one up, Dunkley licks her lips but can only dink the ball to extra cover. The scoring has slowed since Bouchier was out.
16th over: England 91-1 (Dunkley 45, Grewcock 3) Ireland’s third spinner enters the arena, MacBride with her first bowl of the series. Runs here and there.
15th over: England 86-1 (Dunkley 41, Grewcock 2) A nice little overhead dab by Dunkley over her own head for a couple. Another couple from a sweep. A quick single, just quick enough.
14th over: England 81-1 (Dunkley 36, Grewcock 2) Grewcock still finding her way.
13th over: England 77-1 (Dunkley 33, Grewcock 1) Another change, Murray, in shades, bounces in with her legspin. A quieter over.
ShareWICKET! Bouchier c Lewis b McCartney 39 (England 73-1)
From nowhere, a wicket. She gets a bit stuck in her crease and jags a leading edge to short cover. A disappointing end to a cracking little innings.
12th over: England 73-1 ( Dunkley 30) Great to see Alex Tudor on comms on the TV. A no-ball from McCarttney, and Bouchier almost manages to run herself out, inexplicably charging down the pitch. And there’s the wicket!
Updated at 06.17 EDT
11th over: England 68-0 (Bouchier 36, Dunkley 29) Bouchier squirts an outside edge off Little but it lands safely. Little steams in, pistoning arms. Dunkley leans back and cuts the penultimate ball fiercely for four.
10th over: England 61-0 (Bouchier 33, Dunkley 25) Better from McCartney but that’s a super power play from England.
9th over: England 58-0 (Bouchier 31, Dunkley 24) Louise Little starts with a wide and Bouchier flames her next straight down the ground. A few dots follow but Dunkley then ducks her head and flips her for four more.
8th over: England 48-0 (Bouchier 26, Dunkley 20) Lewis plumps for the spin of the long auburn ponytailed McCartney. Four dots but Dunkley dances and stretches and flames her through extra cover for four.
Updated at 06.05 EDT
7th over: England 43-0 (Bouchier 25, Dunkley 16) Wow! Dunkley, an uppercut, fancy, in mid air, like a mucketeer off Prendergast. And next ball she pulls four more on one knee with quick arms.
Updated at 06.06 EDT
6th over: England 35-0 (Bouchier 25, Dunkley 8) Dunkley gets in on the act, dropping her knee and tonking Kelly to long off for four. And four more for Bouchier, cross battted through midwicket. England press the accelerator.
5th over: England 26-0 (Bouchier 21, Dunkley 3) A second boundary of the day for Bouchier, she turns it off her boot ends, fumbled on the rope by Little, and then a third played way out of her crease, through point with a flourish. And a fourth! Another flick round the corner. A costly over for Ireland.
Updated at 05.51 EDT
4th over: England 14-0 (Bouchier 9, Dunkley 2) An immaculate maiden from Kelly, some yes-no running from England.
3rd over: England 14-0 (Bouchier 9, Dunkley 3) I’m deeply envious of the sunshine at Worcester, summer already feels as if it has slipped out of reach in Manchester. Prendergast throws down a couple of bouncers which Dunkley ducks and then takes on the body.
Updated at 05.45 EDT
2nd over: England 10-0 (Bouchier 8, Dunkley 0) The retiring Kelly starts her final bowl for Ireland. Bouchier drives her gorgeously straight down the ground for four.
Updated at 05.38 EDT
1st over: England 2-0 (Bouchier 1, Dunkley 0) Welsh Fire’s Prendergast with the first over which is, a wide apart, on the money. Dunkley is given out lbw to a ball nipping in as Dunkley jackknifes back. But she appeals immediately and the replay shows an inside edge.
Here we go!
ShareArlene Kelly retires
No Stokesian smoke signals, just a low-key announcement at the toss. Kelly, a New Zealander, came to Ireland to play for the Dragons, but qualified through her Irish passport to play for the national team and was picked by Ed Joyce who said overseas cricketers like Kelly would “raise the standard in the team.” She’s played 38 ODIs and 71 IT20s, with 135 international wickets and over 500 runs.
ShareIreland XI
Ireland XI: Gaby Lewis (capt), Alice Tector, Amy Hunter (wk), Orla Prendergast, Rebecca Stokell, Leah Paul, Louise Little, Arlene Kelly, Cara Murray, Lara McBride, Kia McCartney.
Two changes – Arlene Kelly and Lara McBride replace Jane Maguire and Georgina Dempsey.
Updated at 05.24 EDT
England XI
England XI: Sophia Dunkley, Maia Bouchier, Jodi Gewcock, Alice Capsey (wk), Freya Kemp, Dani Gibson, Charlie Dean (c), Mady Villiers, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Lauren Filer, Tilly Corteen-Coleman.
One change, Lauren Filer replaces Issy Wong, who grabbed five wickets in the last match. “I can’t imagine she’ll be too happy,” says Tash Farrant, “but I can see why they want to give Lauren Filer some rhythm.”
ShareIreland win the toss and will bowl
Gaby Lewis wins a toss at last, and says she fancies a bowl because there is a bit of grass in the wicket. She also says that this will be Arlene Kelly’s last international for Ireland.
Our woman on the ground (Raf) reports blazing sunshine at New Road: “Richard Starkie from Noughtie Child says he is regretting not bringing his sun hat. (Written press are outdoors so very grateful for the weather!)“
ShareWeather watch
The Met Office are optimistic: A rather cloudy start with outbreaks of rain moving northeastwards. Turning dry and brighter towards lunchtime, with plenty of sunshine developing for the afternoon. Breezy but feeling very warm in the sunshine. Maximum temperature 26 °C
SharePreamble
Good morning! Here ends England’s international summer. It’s been a mixed bag, winning T20 series against India and New Zealand, a drawn ODI series against NZ, before reaching but not crossing the line in the two big ones – losing the World Cup final to Australia and the first women’s Test at Lord’s to India. They’ve wrapped up this ODI series against Ireland already, with props to Maia Bouchier and Issy Wong, Today they hope to make it a whitewash – assuming the weather at New Road is better than the teeming rain outside my window. Play should start at 10.30am, do join us!