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Ireland are through to the semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 Qualifier after another resounding win in Group B, this time against Canada.
Winning the toss and batting first, Ireland were already at 71 before losing their first wicket – that of Isobel Joyce (17) who was caught at mid-wicket after hitting a long hop from Durriya Shabbir straight to the fielder.

Cecelia Joyce (5) joined Shillington and was playing well before she inside edged one that stayed a bit low, again from Shabbir, onto her stumps. Shillington was eventually dismissed for 81 when Canada captain Mikaela Turik dived at extra cover to stop a Laura Delany drive and smartly run the tournament’s top-scorer out backing up.

Kim Garth (13) was the only other Ireland batter to make a meaningful contribution and the home side finished on 146/7. The girls in green bowled well and stayed patient to take all 10 Canada wickets with the dismissals shared around.

There were two wickets each for Eimear Richardson, Isobel Joyce and Melissa Scott-Hayward while Canada’s top-scorer performer with the bat was again Durriya Shabbir (23). Suthershini Sivanantham (13) was the only other Canadian to make double figures as the visitors were dismissed for 69, 77 runs short of the Irish total.

Ireland’s two wins from two mean they are already through to the semi-finals before playing their last group match against Sri Lanka in Merrion on Saturday afternoon. Should Ireland win their final group match, they will play the team that finishes second in Group B, lose and they play the side that finishes top. For the Ireland v Canada scorecards, click here.

In the day’s other games, Thailand scored a famous victory over the Netherlands in the first game of the day at the Vineyard before Pakistan scored a comprehensive win over Zimbabwe to go top of Group A. In the second game of the day at Merrion Cricket Club, Japan could only manage 21 All Out against Sri Lanka who proceeded to chase the total in just 10 balls.

Sana Mir’s 50 has helped lead Pakistan to top of Group A

Scores in brief:

At The Hills
Netherlands 84 for 5, 20 overs (Hannema 25, Bratt 17*; Sangsoma 2-11)
Thailand 85 for 4, 17.5 overs (Chantam 24*, Prathanmitr 18, Chaiwai 17; Bennett 1-11)
Thailand won by 6 wickets
Player of the Match: N Chantam (Thailand)

Pakistan 142 for 4, 20 overs (Maroof 51, Mir 50; Nkomo 2-22)
Zimbabwe 70 for 9, 20 overs (Mugeri 32, Mayers 10; Dar 2-6)
Pakistan won by 72 runs
Player of the Match: Sana Mir (Pakistan)

At Merrion

Ireland 146 for 7, 20 overs (Shillington 81, I Joyce 17; Shabbir 2-18)
Canada 69 all out, 20 overs (Shabbir 23; I Joyce 2-10, Richardson 2-10)
Ireland won by 77 runs
Player of the Match: Clare Shillington (Ireland)

Japan 21 all out, 18.1 overs (Nakayama 12; Gunaratne 2-2)
Sri Lanka 22 for 0, 1.4 overs (Mendis 18; Ota 0-11)
Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets
Player of the Match: LE Kaushalya (Sri Lanka)

Friday is a rest/reserve day
Saturday’s fixtures:

At The Hills:
Thailand v Zimbabwe 10am
Japan v Canada 2pm

At Merrion:
Pakistan v Netherlands 10am
Ireland v Sri Lanka 2pm

Cricket Ireland
Clare Shillington was player of the match against Canada after scoring 81
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