WBSC Women's Softball World Cup Group A Day 1 - Live Blog; Great Britain lead Australia 1-0

After all the exciting build up, we are finally here. The first day of the historic WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup with Group A action at the Balbriggan All Weather Field in Fingal-Dublin in Ireland.

• Great Britain v Australia underway 1-0: Live Scoring/Play by Play Live Streaming
• Day One Schedule
• First time the new two-stage format is being used in a WBSC tournament.
• First time that Ireland hosts a WBSC tournament.
• New sustainable Mizuno ball - the M170 - in play.
• Six teams participating in three groups. Top two teams from Group A “punch a ticket” to the Finals next year. Learn more about the tournament format here.
• World No. 1 and 12-time champions USA lead the field in Ireland with world No. 9 Australia, No. 3 Chinese Taipei, No. 16 Great Britain, No. 17 Ireland and No. 43 Botswana also in action. Check out the tournament preview.
• First game at 11:00 (local time) Great Britain v Australia followed by USA v Chinese Taipei and then Botswana v Ireland. Full Schedule
• USA is the (four-time) defending world champion having beaten Japan at the World Games in 2022 (awarded the title of world champion) and the last two editions of the WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup in 2016 and 2018. Full History
• Group B in Valencia, Spain sees the hosts, ranked 12th in the world, welcome No. 4 Puerto Rico, No. 10 Netherlands, No. 11 China, No. 28 Cuba and No. 38 South Africa from 18-22 July.
• Group C in Castions di Strada and Buttrio, Italy sees world No. 2 and Olympic champions Japan, No. 5 Canada, No. 8 Italy, No. 26 Philippines and No. 29 New Zealand in action from 22-26 July.
• Tournament Website
• Photos
• Watch Live on GameTime.Sport

Group A - Day One Schedule (local times)

• Great Britain v Australia Live Scoring/Play by Play Live Streaming
• USA v Chinese Taipei 14:00
• Botswana v Ireland 18:30

Great Britain v Australia

The first game of the day sees Great Britain take on Australia.

Kendyl Scott gives Great Britain a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run off Ellen Roberts over left field.

Pregame

Pleased to say the weather forecast is relatively promising here in Balbriggan in Fingal-Dublin.

Yesterday's practice sessions were not only a great chance for teams to acclimatise themselves with the venue but also take some great team shots with Bremore castle as a stunning backdrop. Ireland and Botswana team photos coming later today.