Raising standards offer hope of best-ever World Cup return - Ireland preview
Laura Delany (c), Rachel Delaney, Georgina Dempsey, Amy Hunter, Shauna Kavanagh, Arlene Kelly, Gaby Lewis, Louise Little, Sophie MacMahon, Jane Maguire, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Eimear Richardson, Mary Waldron.
13 February v England at Boland Park, Paarl
15 February v Pakistan at Newlands, Cape Town
17 February v West Indies at Newlands, Cape Town
20 February v India at St George’s Park, Gqeberha
Ireland’s second group fixture against Pakistan is likely to hold the key to their campaign.
Pakistan are the next-lowest ranked nation in the group after Ireland (seventh and 10th respectively) and will be firmly in the Irish team’s sights.
These two met in a T20I series in Pakistan as recently as November, with Ireland completing an historic 2-1 victory with Gaby Lewis the star of the series.
A win against these opponents who set Ireland up brilliantly for the meeting with an out-of-form West Indies just two days later.
Ireland have featured at three previous ICC T20 World Cups, exiting in the group stage each time and failing to win a match on all three occasions.
Ireland’s all-rounder Gaby Lewis is a serious talent. The 21-year-old can chip in with the ball when required, but it is where the bat where she is most impactful.
Her average and strike rate sets the standard for Ireland, and has attracted the attention of domestic franchises – most notably seeing her drafted by Southern Brave and Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.
There aren’t many players as young as Lewis with such volume of experience – she made her debut at the age of just 13 – and Ireland will be hoping the youngster can inspire them to some statement wins at the tournament.
Ireland will be targeting their first T20 World Cup win in Group 2, and on recent form there’s every chance they will succeed.
They produced a famous T20I win over South Africa last year, only their second win ever against the Proteas in the format.
And a successful group stage was followed by crunch win over Zimbabwe in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier knockout phase to earn Ireland their spot in this tournament.
They’ve looked in fine form since then too, with the series win away in Pakistan in November offering a terrific indication that this Ireland squad are ready to take the country’s World Cup record up to a new level.
The squad was hit slightly by the loss of Rebecca Stokell on the eve of the tournament through injury, but there’s some real talent remaining in the travelling party and they appear to be on an upward trajectory as a team.