Dragons started their defence of the SS50 competition with a five wickets victory over Typhoons.

Cara Murray was the stand-out performer with six wickets, although skipper Amy Hunter was the class act with 80 off 71 balls as Dragons chased down their victory target of  225 with nine overs to spare.

After Alana Dalzell trapped Bella Armstrong, Murray followed up with the wickets of Lara Maritz, Laura Delany and Gaby Lewis, in successive overs, the latter to a stunning one-handed catch by Dalzell.

Louise Little, Aisling Lawlor and Georgina Dempsey all kept the scoreboard moving but wickets kept falling with Murray’s dismissal of Jane Maguire the pick of her sextet – although she will bowl better for lesser reward.

Waringstown’s Penny Speer was given her Dragons debut and although wicketless, bowled with much promise, conceding just 33 in her eight overs.

Orla  Prendergast was missing from the Dragons line-up as she was making her debut in the The Hundred for Welsh Fire but her batting wasn’t missed either as Hunter, who hit 11 fours and a six, shared partnerships of 74 with Sophie Reid and 82 with Zara Craig before she holed out to deep mid-wicket.

Alana Dalzell hurried the game to its conclusion, hitting Lawlor for three successive fours before finishing the match in style with a six.

The competition resumes on Thursday at Oak Hill.