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Ireland Women take on Zimbabwe in their final group match of the Women’s World T20 Qualifiers tomorrow morning having already secured their place in the semi-finals after victories over China and the Netherlands.
We caught up with all-rounder Laura Delany as the side had a recovery day between their matches to see how things were in the camp and what to expect in the final game as the side look to top the group.

“After winning yesterday and making it two for two everyone is in great form and we are all really looking forward to the games this week.”

Talking about the two opening games, Delany was pleased with the wins, but feels there is still room for improvement in the squad as the tournament progresses.

“We had a very convincing win against Holland in our first game. We bowled well at times but it was Ceil and Clare’s outstanding partnership that won us the game.

“In our second game against China we lost a couple of early wickets but we managed to consolidate and post 104. Going forward we would like to be more disciplined with the ball and keep the intensity in the field up throughout the game.”

Moving forward, Delany knows that the Zimbabwe side are not to be taken for granted and the squad are far from relaxing heading into the match even though they have already qualified for the next stage of the competition.

“We have plans and goals for each game and this is a game where we want to have a clean slate and tick all our boxes.

“I definitely don’t think Zimbabwe are to be underestimated they won yesterday against Holland. We will be hoping to be more clinical in the field and for our top order to dominate with the bat again.”

Beating Zimbabwe, who have also won their first two games and qualified for the semi-finals, would secure the top spot in the group and mean that Ireland would play the second placed team in Group A, which is likely to be Scotland.

Losing would mean Ireland head to the semi-finals anyway, but would likely play tournament favourites Bangladesh for a place in the World Cup.

The match is Ireland’s first afternoon match, starting at 1345 local time, which will bring a new challenge for the team, with the afternoon heat likely to make things a lot harder for the bowlers in particular, but there is some relief for fans back home in Ireland who will have a much more reasonable start time of 6.45am.

Heading into the game the plans are simple and Delany knows that if Ireland play to their strengths and perform to their best they have a great chance of winning and topping the group.

“Our aim would be to post a big total and bowl them all out. I suppose play to our strengths, run hard between the wickets and bowl a good line and length.”

You can follow the action from the game on cricketireland.ie and through our official twitter feed @irelandcricket.

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