England brush Ireland aside

Laura Marsh scored her maiden ODI fifty as England thrashed Ireland by 147 runs at Kibworth

England warmed up for the one-day international leg of the NatWest Women’s Series against New Zealand with a 147-run demolition of Ireland at Kibworth CC near Leicester.

Having lost the Twenty20 rubber to the White Ferns 2-1, Charlotte Edwards’ side regained some momentum ahead of the opening ODI at Taunton on Saturday.

Edwards, who dropped down from her usual opening role to number four, top-scored with 72 in England’s 274 for seven, with Laura Marsh’s 64 - her first ODI fifty - the other major contribution.

Seam duo Jill Whelan and Isobel Joyce - the sister of Sussex batsman Ed - took two wickets apiece but could not prevent an imposing total.

Ireland lost wickets at regular intervals and never threatened to get near the victory target as Laura Delany top-scored with 43 in her side’s 127 all out in 49.2 overs.

Left-arm spinner Holly Colvin returned impressive figure of 2-31 from 10 overs as the hosts otherwise shared out the wickets.

Marsh said: “It was a great day today and personally nice to have scored my first one-day fifty.

"I have been working hard with Mark Lane and Jack Birkenshaw on my technique and it’s paying off.

“Charlotte Edwards batted well up front and put in a good performance.

“We’ve now got to take this momentum into the NatWest Series against New Zealand.”