Ava Canning has suffered a stress fracture of the back and will be replaced in the Ireland squad by Jane Maguire for the remainder of the T20 World Cup.

The strike bowler complained of discomfort after Ireland’s opening game of the campaign on Saturday and was rested from the England clash on Tuesday night as a precaution before the results from a scan confirmed the worst.

Canning had been in outstanding form of late, taking nine wickets in five matches prior to the tournament and another three in the first Group 2 game against Scotland.

Ireland had to defend a lowly 118-9 without her against the strength of England but skipper Gaby Lewis was delighted with how the Girls in Green battled to take the game deep before losing by six wickets.

“I’m very proud of the girls,” Lewis said. “All I asked at halftime is that we make those 118 runs as hard as possible to get. And we did that. We left it all out there. I’m really proud of that fielding innings.”

Lewis herself held a superb diving catch at mid-off and a more straightforward one two balls later, and there was a noticeable improvement all round from a team that has been widely criticised for its dropped chances and fumbles in the field.

But if the weakest part of their game has improved, what used to be Ireland’s strength — the top order batting — isn’t firing and the selectors may have to admit that the experiment of opening with Alana Dalzell hasn’t worked.

“Losing wickets in the powerplay wasn’t ideal,” Lewis admitted. “We need to build a platform and make it easier for those batters in the middle.”

Lewis needs to revert to her opening role alongside Amy Hunter for Friday night’s game against New Zealand, with Orla Prendergast pushed up to number three.

If any of that trio fires, the reigning champions could be in for another shock after already losing to the West Indies and Sri Lanka.