Ireland had a 146 run loss to hosts Sri Lanka in the second of their group matches in the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers.
Ireland had a 146 run loss to hosts Sri Lanka in the second of their group matches in the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers.
The Irish dropped three crucial chances, a fact rued by Head Coach Aaron Hamilton.
“I thought we started off well with the ball, but faded away in the middle which allowed them to get back into it.” said Hamilton.
“239 was a chasable total, but obviously 3 dropped catches didn’t help our cause.
“We had a poor start with the bat and couldn’t recover, but Shillers (Clare Shillington) batted really well at the back end.
Ireland now face India in a tough match on Friday and Hamilton was hopeful both that Meg Kendal would be fit for the game, and his team would show character to bounce back.
“We’ll look at the footage on Thursday and regroup and come back stronger against India.
“Meg Kendal suffered a suspected hamstring injury in the game. We are waiting for the irritation to reduce and will reassess then. She came off the field in the 38th over and didn’t bat which was a blow.”
Fomer skipper Isobel Joyce was the best of the Irish bowlers taking 4 for 39 in the losing cause, but was disappointed at the manner of the loss.
“239 was within our capability but we didn’t fire,” said Joyce. “We gave away too many as we should have restricted then to under 200 considering the boost of the big two early wickets.
“Personally I was really happy to take four wickets as my focus is usually on keeping the runs down, but I just wish it was under better circumstances given the result.”
Ireland’s top scorer Clare Shillington felt Ireland’s chase was disrupted by the injury to Kendal, but was confident Ireland could rebound in Friday’s encounter with India.
“It was difficult not having our opening partnership,” said Shillington. “Sri Lanka bowled well and we just didn’t turn up on the day.
“It’s obviously disappointing but we have strong characters in our squad and I’m sure we will bounce back from it.”
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Connaught
