Ireland captain Laura Delaney in rally call ahead of World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands

Despite an impressive start to the match on Tuesday, Ireland eventually succumbed to the Caribbean side by six wickets.

However, despite the defeat, Delaney was encouraged by her squad’s never-say-die approach to the Group A tournament opener.

“Gaby [Lewis] and Leah [Paul] started off well yesterday, which is pleasing to see their good form continue on from the Zimbabwe tour from last month,” Delaney said.

“They put on some great partnerships during that series, and have batted well together at the Super series level over the last two years. It’s great to see that translate into international performances at this level, and I hope they continue to cement their roles in the team as our opening pair in this format.

“After the opening stand, we then lost a few wickets in quick succession. As a batting unit we know that we are capable of a lot more and, hopefully, we will display this over the next few days,” she added.

“I was delighted to have Eimear [Richardson] back in the side after she missed last month’s tour - she’s a very skilled player, and has a lot of experience, so it’s great to have her back around the group.”

“Our bowling attack bowled well in the middle period, but we didn’t take early wickets in order to build pressure, and Deandra Dottin played incredibly well.”

Delaney knows Ireland are capable of lifting their performance and she says the players are fired up to show their best cricket against the Netherlands today and also in Monday’s final qialifier against Sri Lanka.

“We just didn’t have enough runs on the board, but I was pleased with how the bowlers acquitted themselves and how we took it into the 40th over,” said the Ireland skipper.

“I said yesterday after the match, we know we haven’t played our best cricket yet, and there are two matches still to go, so we’re looking ahead to Netherlands tomorrow and Sri Lanka on Monday to show what we can do.”

For the tournament proper, nine teams will compete for three places at the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup, set to be held in New Zealand (the tenth team, Papua New Guinea, withdrew and were not be replaced in the draw).

The top three teams from each group will go through ] to the Super 6 stage, with group stage points carrying over to the next phase.

From there, the top three after the Super 6 stage will qualify for the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022, which is scheduled to be held in New Zealand next year.

The hosts, plus Australia, England, South Africa and India have directly qualified for the event.

As a bonus, the top five teams will also qualify for the next edition of the ICC Women’s Championship, which is expanding from eight teams to 10.

Ireland: Laura Delany (captain), Georgina Dempsey, Amy Hunter, Shauna Kavanagh, Gaby Lewis, Louise Little, Sophie MacMahon, Jane Maguire, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Celeste Raack, Eimear Richardson, Rebecca Stokell, Mary Waldron.

Head coach: Ed Joyce

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