News

An unbeaten 33 and two wickets from skipper Isobel Joyce helped Ireland Women get their trip to Thailand off to a perfect start by defeating Scotland in the first of two warm up matches heading into the World T20 Qualifiers.
After arriving on Saturday the squad worked hard to acclimatise to the conditions in Bangkok before this morning’s game, where they took on a Scotland side who had already lost their first warm-up match to China. Lucy O’Reilly spoke to cricketireland.ie about the different conditions and the match against Scotland.

“The hot weather here is definitely something which I think shocked a few of us. Day 1 was a tough challenge but now a couple of days later we have relaxed into the conditions a little better. It’s still very tough going but with the help of monitoring of hydration and wellness we are improving day by day to make things easier.”

Losing a wicket in the opening over after being asked to bat first was not the best of starts, but Cecelia Joyce (21) and Kim Garth (11) helped the side reach 43-3 at the half way stage. Cath Dalton, new to the squad for this tournament, then joined forces with Isobel Joyce to add a further 39 runs before Dalton was run out for 20.

Laura Delany then hit 12 before getting out in the final over with Ireland finishing the innings on 108-5.

The Irish bowlers attacked Scotland from the off but looked like they may have been in trouble with Scotland at 30-0, but Ciara Metcalfe (2-5) picked up two wickets in the same over before Isobel Joyce (2-1) picked up two in an over herself to reduce Scotland to 33-5 at the half way stage.

Robyn Lewis (2-7) and Lucy O’Reilly (2-21) also picked up two wickets each as Scotland looked like they would fail to use their full 20 overs, losing their eighth wicket with just over five overs to spare, but they resisted and finished the innings 81-8. The spinners in the side seemed to have the most success but with two wickets, O’Reilly explained that the pitches are helping the seam bowlers a little as well.

“The pitches are quite different to what we are used to. They are very slow and tough to bat on. Spinners are getting a good amount of turn and seamers are getting movement off the pitch also.”

After the game O’Reilly spoke about the team performance and what they are thinking about going forward.

“I think without discussing [it as a team] we knew our bowling and fielding was very good. With our batting I think we just adjusted to the conditions a little bit too late, but now that we know how the pitch plays it will be easier to adapt.

“We’ve been working with David our psycologist who has spoken to us about ensuring we use our strengths throughout this tournament so I think we should keep working hard on what we are good at. Again we will be keeping up to date on our wellness and hydration to ensure we can pull out another performance against Thailand!”

Preparations will continue for Ireland with a second warm up match on Thursday before starting the tournament proper on Saturday when they take on The Netherlands in the first of three group matches.


Yes
Connaught