New Zealand edge Ireland in thriller to keep World Cup hopes alive

Defending champions New Zealand beat Ireland by four runs to keep their ICC Women's T20 World Cup hopes alive in a thriller that went down to the final ball of the match.

New Zealand legend Suzie Bates - who was sensationally called into the line-up at the last minute after all-rounder Sophie Devine fell ill on the bus to the game - closed out a resilient Ireland side in the last over to secure a vital first win of the tournament.

Ireland, on the other hand, agonisingly missed out on their first World Cup win and are all but eliminated from contention in Group A after losing all three of their matches so far.

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Gaby Lewis and her side got off to a fast start when Orla Prendergast and Arlene Kelly took the wickets of New Zealand openers Izzy Gaze (1) and Georgia Plimmer (4) in two successive balls early on, and Cara Murray ended the brief fightback of captain Melie Kerr (30 off 24) to leave their opponents reeling on 48-4.

Izzy Sharp (36) and Brooke Halliday (34) steadied the ship with a brilliant 62-run fifth-wicket stand, and an important 19 from Bates saw New Zealand post a competitive - but reachable - total of 140-6 after their 20 overs.

Ireland started their innings slowly after an underwhelming powerplay saw them post just 35 runs after the first six overs, but captain Lewis (58 off 53) and Prendergast (59 off 53) built an incredible 100-run partnership to put Ireland in the ascendancy, needing just 25 off the last 15 balls to win the game.

But New Zealand, with their backs against the wall, took a huge wicket when Prendergast was caught on the boundary from Kerr (2-23), and the wickets of Stokell and Lewis quickly followed before Bates put the game to bed with the last over.

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