For the cricketers of Ireland, the officials running the cricket in this country and the few cricket fans of this country, the 24 hours between 26th and 27th June have become the most memorable time. Within these 24 hours, two different teams of Ireland did what they had been waiting for and failing for years. On the evening of 26 June, Ireland’s men’s team defeated 3-time T20 World Champion India for the first time in any format. Just within 24 hours, Ireland’s women’s team defeated West Indies in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 and won for the first time in the history of the tournament.
On June 26, Ireland Men’s team created history by defeating India by 34 runs in the first T20 match in Belfast. This was Ireland’s first win against the Indian team in any format after 11 defeats. Ireland’s cricket fans had not even fully recovered from the celebration of this victory when within 24 hours the next Ireland women’s team wrote a new golden history in Bristol, England, about 700 kilometers away from Belfast.
Ireland, which was out of the tournament after losing its first 4 matches in the group stage of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, took the field for the last time, where it faced former champion West Indies. It was necessary for the West Indies to win this match at any cost because it would have given them a ticket to the semi-finals, but the Irish team under the captaincy of Gabby Lewis changed the whole story. Batting first in this match, Haley Mathews’s West Indies team could score only 128 runs. Shinel Henry scored the highest score of 27 runs (not out). Cara Murray (2/13) and Amy Maguire (2/22) were the most effective bowlers for Ireland.
The bowlers had done their work and now it was the turn of the batsmen. However, the start here was not good and Captain Lewis was out after only 26 runs. But here once again Ireland’s most powerful batsman Orla Prendergast took charge, who had already played some good innings in the tournament and had also taken 1 wicket in this match. Prendergast played an excellent inning of 63 runs in just 44 balls and took the team closer to victory. Then on the first ball of the 19th over, Ireland scored the winning run and won by 6 wickets.
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