It was a poor performance from Ireland, who proved in the first ODI their batting is capable of competing with England after posting 210 – still a below-par total, but at least a respectable one.
But with captain Gaby Lewis bowled by Cross in the first over and star all-rounder Orla Prendergast dismissed lbw in Cross’ second, they had lost their two most experienced players with just seven runs on the board and neither of them had troubled the scorers.
The difficult had become almost impossible, with Amy Hunter, a talented batter but only 18 years old, also falling in the first over and from there, England were simply too good for their opponents.
Cross reaped her rewards with accuracy while Filer rushed the batters for pace, having Leah Paul caught behind, inducing a miscued pull shot from Rebecca Stokell and splattering Arlene Kelly’s stumps with a yorker.
Kemp and Davis mopped up the rest as Ireland only scored three boundaries in their innings, two for Raymond-Hoey and one for Freya Sargent.
Fast bowler Issy Wong, making her first England outing of the summer, was not even required to bowl.
It was a humbling day for Ireland, who are a young side but having beaten Sri Lanka in an ODI series last month, they would have been hoping to put up much more of a fight against England, which they will look to put right in the final match of the series.
