Laura Delany reflects on the World Cup Qualifier loss against the West Indies

(Cricket news) Ireland Women’s skipper Laura Delany said today that her team is determined to use yesterday’s loss against the West Indies as motivation for their qualifying campaign ahead of tomorrow’s crucial match against the Netherlands in the ICC Women’s World Cup Global Qualifier.

Despite a great start to the match yesterday, Ireland eventually lost to the Caribbean side by 6 wickets, however, they fought all the way demonstrating a never-say-die approach to their game.

Speaking from the team hotel, Delany said: “Gaby [Lewis] and Leah [Paul] started off well yesterday, which is pleasing to see their good form continue on from the Zimbabwe tour from last month. They put on some great partnerships during that series, and have batted well together at the Super series level over the last two years. It’s great to see that translate into international performances at this level, and I hope they continue to cement their roles in the team as our opening pair in this format.

“After the opening stand, we then lost a few wickets in quick succession. As a batting unit we know that we are capable of a lot more and, hopefully, we will display this over the next few days.

“I was delighted to have Eimear [Richardson] back in the side after she missed last month’s tour – she’s a very skilled player, and has a lot of experience, so it’s great to have her back around the group.

“Our bowling attack bowled well in the middle period, but we didn’t take early wickets in order to build pressure, and Deandra Dottin played incredibly well. We just didn’t have enough runs on the board, but I was pleased with how the bowlers acquitted themselves and how we took it into the 40th over.

“I said yesterday after the match, we know we haven’t played our best cricket yet, and there are two matches still to go, so we’re looking ahead to Netherlands tomorrow and Sri Lanka on Monday to show what we can do.”

All fixtures in the Qualifier tournament will be live streamed through www.icc.tv.

The ICC Women’s World Cup Global Qualifier Squad:

Laura Delany (captain), Georgina Dempsey, Amy Hunter, Shauna Kavanagh, Gaby Lewis, Louise Little, Sophie MacMahon, Jane Maguire, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Celeste Raack, Eimear Richardson, Rebecca Stokell, Mary Waldron.

Head coach: Ed Joyce
 
In addition, as part of Covid-19 protocols, the following players have been named as reserves: Sarah Forbes, Alana Dalzell and Kate McEvoy

Fixture schedule:

For the tournament proper, nine teams will compete for three places at the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup, set to be held in New Zealand (the tenth team, Papua New Guinea, withdrew and were not replaced in the draw).

Also read: India set out to seek revenge for the WTC final loss in 1st Test match against New Zealand

The Qualifier groups are:

Group A: West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands
Group B: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zimbabwe, USA
 
As a consequence of the Papua New Guinea withdrawal, the playing schedule has been amended from previous advice. Ireland Women’s playing schedule is:

23 November: Ireland Women v West Indies Women (scorecard)

25 November: Ireland Women v Netherlands Women (World Cup Qualifier Match 2, Old Hararians Sports Club; start 9.30am)

29 November: Ireland Women v Sri Lanka Women (World Cup Qualifier Match 3, Sunrise Cricket Club; start 9.30am)
 
The top three teams from each group go to the Super 6 stage, with group stage points carrying over to the next phase. From there, the top three after the Super 6 stage will qualify for the Women's Cricket World Cup 2022 being held in New Zealand next year, along with the hosts, Australia, England, South Africa and India, who have directly qualified for the event.

As a bonus, the top five teams will also qualify for the next edition of the ICC Women's Championship, which is expanding from eight teams to 10.

The ICC will livestream the matches on ICC.tv, as well as live scoring and providing a range of digital content.

If successful, this will be the first time that Ireland Women have played in a 50-over Cricket World Cup since 2005.

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