On Tuesday, June 16, England's spin attack, led by Sophie Ecclestone's three wickets, won their second game in a row to defeat Ireland at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. Unlike their demolition job over Sri Lanka in the tournament opener, England were made to work hard for these two points as they stuttered in a tricky run chase before prevailing by four wickets. Already under pressure coming into this fixture on the back of their loss to Scotland, Ireland were asked to bat first. Amy Hunter was castled by Linsey Smith after she attempted to sweep a delivery too early, and England struck quickly. Gaby Lewis hit a perfect scoop in the very next over, but it went straight to the fielder. Ireland continued to crumble inside the Powerplay as it was now Charlie Dean's turn to strike. Ireland were 38/3 after six overs, and their survival depended heavily on Orla Prendergast once more. While Prendergast continued to bat in fine fashion, Ecclestone came back into the attack to strike and pin Ireland further down. In a bigger blow, the batting side went on to lose the big wicket of Prendergast as she chopped one on to her stumps. At 57/5 after 10 overs, Ireland needed a miracle to storm back into the contest. While Leah Paul and Alice Tector hung in for a while, it was a cameo from Louise Little that actually dragged Ireland beyond 100. Little smashed four boundaries in the final over of the innings after Ecclestone struck twice in the penultimate over. A target of 119 should have been a cakewalk for a side that posted 219 in their first game. But England was made to work hard on the surface. Aimee Maguire's double in the fifth over gave Ireland a lot of hope, but Danni Wyatt-Hodge hit a few boundaries. Both the England openers found Lewis on the field to depart early and in the final over of the Powerplay while Prendergast bowled a third straight over and was rewarded with Alice Capsey's wicket. England finished the Powerplay with 35/3 - which meant they were on the same boat as Ireland at this stage. The experienced duo of Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt then got together to put the chase back on track. Sciver-Brunt picked up a boundary each off the next three overs and Knight got going with a sweep behind square that carried England to a strong position at the halfway mark. England were at 95/3 after 13 overs before Ireland regained some hope. Prendergast came back for her final over and broke the partnership with Knight's wicket. With only 9 runs needed, Sciver-Brunt decided to walk back retired out after feeling some tightness in her calf. Even though the captain of England said that it was just a precaution, the fact that it was the same calf that had been bothering her in the past will cause England concern moving forward. Just three balls after she walked off, England lost the wicket of Danielle Gibson as well to a needless run out which caused unnecessary panic in the dugout. However, Dean won the game in the subsequent over by hitting a shot over the covers for a crucial boundary.