WWT20Q Final - Ireland are here to win

On the eve of the WWT20Q Final against Bangladesh Izzy Joyce confirms that, despite having already qualified for the WWT20, the job is not yet done...

Yesterday was a huge day for both Scotland and us because the winner of the ICC Women's World T20 Qualifier semi-final claimed the coveted last available place in the ICC WWT20 taking place in India in March 2016.

Before the game you set your plans, you do everything you can to prepare, imagine all the permutations and then more often than not, it all goes out the window when it comes down to it. Bowling changes, field placement, you can go over and over it all but you still need the players to do their job on the day, and that's exactly what happened yesterday.

We haven't taken many wickets in the first six overs in any match this tournament, but what we have done is put pressure on and then starved the opposition of runs outside the powerplay. We did that really well against Scotland and the later it got in our fielding innings, the more difficult they found it to up the run rate.

All of the bowlers did their job in the semi-final but two stood out in particular. Lucy O'Reilly who took three wickets and has gone for very few runs in every game, and Ciara Metcalfe who is invaluable as a legspinner by virtue of her consistency.

We didn't manage to bowl Scotland out but we kept them down to 78, and still the nerves weren't all gone. They soon were though, because Shillers and Cecelia blasted us to 20 after just two overs to take the wind out of the Scottish sails.

The Scotland supporters on the sideline were still singing their songs but our two openers didn't let up and piled on the runs in the first six, taking full advantage of the fielding restrictions. Shillers was out with the total in sight, and Kim Garth was happy to finish the job with Cecelia with plenty of time left over.

The celebrations were somewhat subdued because winning the semi-final is not what we came here to do, our aim was always to win the tournament and go into the World Cup as the best team outside the top 8.

The plans are set, we've done all we can to prepare. We've imagined all the permutations, bowling changes and field placements, here's hoping it all goes to plan. 

Isobel Joyce 

04/XII/15