Cheshire’s Sophie Ecclestone starred as England continued their impressive form at the T20 World Cup.

They made it two wins from two in the group stage with a four-wicket victory against Ireland in Paarl.

Lancashire CC’s Ecclestone was once again a standout performer, recording figures of 3-13 to underline why she is the number one ranked women’s T20I bowler.

Ireland elected to bat first, and initially looked to have made a good decision as they reached 42-1 at the end of the power play.

The turning point came in the 13th over, as Ecclestone delivered a double wicket maiden to give England control.

The left-arm spinner removed opener Gaby Lewis for 36, before bowling Eimear Richardson LBW for a duck with the very next ball.

Despite missing out on the hat-trick, Ecclestone’s brilliance triggered an Ireland batting collapse as they fell from 80-2 to 105 all out in the space of seven overs.

England’s spin attack looked at home on a used pitch, with eight of Ireland’s ten wickets falling to spin.

Ecclestone is currently the tournament’s leading wicket taker with six wickets.

England started their chase by loosing Sophia Dunkley for only four runs in the first over, but Alice Capsey came to the crease and produced a dominant performance with the bat.

The 18-year-old made 51 off just 22 balls and scored the joint fastest 50 in women’s T20 World Cups.

England lost momentum following Capsey’s dismissal, making hard work for themselves by losing four wickets for 29 runs.

However, Katherine Sciver-Brunt hit the winning runs to complete the run chase in 14.2 overs.

England are top of their World Cup group and have a strong net run rate of 2.497.

Up next is India on Saturday, who eliminated England in the semi-final of last summer’s Commonwealth Games.

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