The ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2021 is to be played across four venues in Harare, Zimbabwe from November 21 to December 5.

The tournament gets off with a set of warm-up matches on November 19 before the preliminary league takes place.

The 10 competing teams will be split into two groups of five for the preliminary league, with Ed Joyce’s girls in green placed in Group A alongside the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea and the West Indies.

There is no knockout stage in the competition, with the preliminary league, consisting of five teams each in two groups, followed by a Super Six stage to decide the final positions at the end of 29 matches.

Ireland’s match against the Netherlands will take place on the opening day of the qualifiers at Takashinga Cricket Club alongside three other matches.

Pakistan and Bangladesh feature in a highly anticipated match at the Old Hararians Club while Thailand and Zimbabwe face-off at Harare Sports Club and a second Group A clash of the day is played between West Indies and Papua New Guinea at Sunrise Cricket Club.

The Zimbabwe tournament is an important one on the calendar as it decides three qualifiers for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 to be held in New Zealand from 4 March to 3 April.

The three qualifiers will join five teams who have already qualified through the ICC Women’s Championship – Australia, England, India, South Africa and hosts New Zealand.

These three qualifiers as well as the next two teams will also ensure places in the next ICC Women’s Championship (IWC) along with the top five from last time, as the number of teams in the third cycle of the IWC goes up from eight to 10 teams.

All fixtures are day matches starting at 9:30 am local time, or 11:30 am GMT.

Groupings

Ireland ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2021 fixtures

Warm-up match

Friday, November 19 – Pakistan v Ireland

Qualifiers

Sunday, November 21 – Ireland v Netherlands – 11:30 am

Tuesday, November 23 – West Indies v Ireland – 11:30 am

Thursday, November 25 – Ireland v Sri Lanka – 11:30 am

Saturday, November 27 – Ireland v Papua New Guinea – 11:30 am

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The loss to Sri Lanka on Wednesday means that Ireland must beat Namibia if they are to be part of the Super 12.

Namibia made history when they beat the Netherlands on Wednesday to claim their first-ever victory at an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

This year’s instalment of the World Cup is their debut in the competition and they will want to make the most of the chance they have to progress.

The winner will move on to the next round to meet New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the highest-ranked side in Group B (currently Scotland).

Bowler Josh Little was a bright spark for Ireland in the heavy loss on Wednesday and his captain Andrew Balbirnie thinks that the Dubliner has been fantastic for the national side in the past year.

The 21-year-old returned career-best figures of four for 23 in Abu Dhabi, which featured two wickets in his first over and took his 2021 T20I wicket tally to 12 from nine matches.

Balbirnie said: “Josh Little bowled to his plans and he has been a real find for us this year, he has bowled beautifully for us up top and we put them in real trouble…Josh is a huge asset. He has been a force in ODI cricket this year and really come to the fore.”

Head coach Graham Ford has said that his side are “desperate” to progress to the Super 12 with a win over Namibia.

Ford said: “I think for us, we come to the tournament with a slightly different view to some of the bugger countries, in that we are gaining and learning with every single outing – trying to make as much progress in our cricket as possible.

“So, every game is important as far as that is concerned – to try and make those little improvements here and there and to sharpen our skills, and adapt to the extra pace in the pitches.

“Win or lose, we are gaining and we are learning, so that’s a big plus for us – but quite obviously we are desperate to go through to the next phase of the tournament as well.

“Despite the loss [yesterday] we are still alive and still in the competition, and that’s the important thing.”

Teams

Namibia: Gerhard Erasmus (C), Stephan Baard, Michau Du Preez, Zane Green, Bernard Scholtz, JJ Smit, Michael Van Lingen, Craig Williams, Karl Birkenstock, Jan Frylink, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ben Shikongo, Ruben Trumpelmann, David Weise, David Wiese, Pikky Ya France.

Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (C), Mark Adair, Gareth Delany, Joshua Little, Kevin O’Brien, Simi Singh, Harry Tector, Benjamin White, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Neil Rock, Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.

Where To Watch

The match will start at 11 am and will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket – coverage begins at 10:30 am.

You can keep track of the live score on the ICC website and Cricket Ireland will provide Twitter updates throughout the match.

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Little returned career-best figures of four for 23 in Abu Dhabi, which featured two wickets in his first over, but could not prevent Sri Lanka from winning by 70 runs to secure their own safe passage to the next round.

The 21-year-old left-armer might have been on the losing side here but his performance was impressive, taking his 2021 T20I wicket tally to 12 from nine matches.

He delivered two brilliant balls to clean bowl both Dinesh Chandimal and Avishka Fernando with back-to-back deliveries as Sri Lanka stumbled to eight for three and later removed Pathum Nissanka for 61 and Bhanuka Rajapaksa for just one.

In between, Nissanka and Wanindu Hasaranga put on a partnership of 123 for the fourth wicket to rebuild Sri Lanka’s innings and they eventually made 171 for seven.

The Lions then bowled Ireland out for 101 but Balbirnie was quick to praise Little after the match.

“I was excited at eight for three,” he said. “Josh Little bowled to his plans and he has been a real find for us this year, he has bowled beautifully for us up top and we put them in real trouble.

“But the way their guys came out and played was really impressive and took the innings away from us in the middle. But I thought we came back quite well.

“Josh is a huge asset. He has been a force in ODI cricket this year and really come to the fore.

“He showed off those new-ball skills and attacked the stumps. On these wickets, he comes into his own.”

Balbirnie knows Ireland lost control of the match when Hasaranga was batting but praised his side for the way they fought back to take four wickets in the last five overs.

It was a different story with the bat, however, as openers Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien fell cheaply to leave them in trouble early.

When Curtis Campher was dismissed for 24, Ireland lost regular wickets and succumbed to defeat.

The Irish captain praised the Sri Lankan bowling that snuffed out any chance of a successful chase.

He also talked about his time at-bat, where he lead his team in runs with 41 from 39 balls.

“It was obviously nice to spend time in the middle tonight – I was hoping that I may have gone at a better rate, but with the small boundary on one side I always thought we were in the game.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get going today and that was largely down to a good Sri Lankan bowling attack.”

They now face a crucial game against Namibia – both teams have lost to Sri Lanka and beaten the Netherlands so far.

The winner of Friday’s clash between the two sides will progress to the Super 12s to meet New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the highest-ranked side in Group B (currently Scotland).

“We are excited, they are the games you want to play in when you grow up watching cricket and see the knock-out games. They are the ones we want to be part of, so we will rest up and be ready,” Balbirnie added.

“We started the week really well and put in some really good performances against the Dutch. We knew if we lost that game, we would be playing catch up.

“This is a good Sri Lanka team, I thought they batted and bowled really well. We started well with the ball and finished well with the ball but we could not really get it going with the bat.

“We have a massive game on Friday now and it is all to play for.”

Ireland will play Namibia in their final match in Group A on Friday morning at 11 am. Sky Sports will begin their coverage of the match in Ireland and the United Kingdom at 10:30 am.

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Both sides won their first games in Group A and will be aiming to continue their strong starts and put one foot into the Super 12.

Ireland dismantled the Netherlands courtesy of some fantastic bowling – Curtis Campher took four wickets in four balls and the ever-consistent Mark Adair got three of his own.

The target of 106 was light work for the Irish as they surpassed it with 29 balls left to win their first match of this year’s T20 World Cup.

At a press conference on Monday night, Head Coach Graham Ford said: “On Sri Lanka, probably about half the squad I know pretty well, and the coach I know very well.

“We know they are going to be a very competitive and energetic unit – they have had previous successes in this format in previous years and previous T20 World Cups.

“So, it will be a huge game for us, but I think it will be a really exciting challenge – we’ll focus on going out and really enjoying this opportunity.”

Sri Lanka did not even need 75% of their overs to be victorious over Namibia in their first game.

The Namibians managed only 96 runs in the T20 World Cup debut before the tenth wicket in the final over.

The 2014 T20 World Champions reached triple digits after 13.3 overs to end the match early.

Maheesh Theekshana led the team with three wickets while Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Avishka Fernando went unbeaten at-bat to seal the win.

“They have a special group – and have some players that can do some unorthodox stuff – but our lads have a lot of information on them, and at the end of the day, it will be all about how we play on the day.

“We pitched up against the Netherlands with a real positive energy and commitment, and if we bring that again on Wednesday then we give ourselves a good chance.”

Squads

Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (C), Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Wanindu Hasaranga, Avishka Fernando, Chamika Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dushmantha Chameera, Akila Dananjaya, Dhananjaya De Silva, Binura Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Kusal Perera, Maheesh Theekshana.

Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (C), Mark Adair, Gareth Delany, Joshua Little, Kevin O’Brien, Simi Singh, Harry Tector, Benjamin White, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Neil Rock, Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.

Where To Watch

The match will start at 3 pm and will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket – coverage begins at 2:30 pm.

You can keep track of the live score on the ICC website and Cricket Ireland will provide Twitter updates throughout the match.

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Graham Ford’s side comes into the tournament after warm-up wins over Papua New Guinea and Bangladesh.

Captain Andrew Balbirnie will lead Ireland out for their sixth-straight appearance at the T20 World Cup as the side look to do better than their last time out in 2016, where they finished winless and the second-worst team in the tournament.

The Netherlands are not as prepared for a T20 tournament as Ireland, with their last game in this format was the third of a series against Nepal in April.

The team coached by Ryan Campbell will play their first match since a four-wicket win over thier opponents today in a One Day International on June 7.

The Dutch have won seven out of the last eleven meetings with Ireland in T20s and will be in search of an eighth in twelve this morning.

This includes a 21-run victory in the semi-final of the 2019 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier.

Yet, the team sit five below Ireland in the T20I rankings in 17th.

The pair are in Group A with Namibia and Sri Lanka, with all four sides vying for a spot in the Super 12 stage of the World Cup.

Scotland and Oman picked up wins in their opening matches on Sunday and Ireland will aim to become the third side in the win column.

Teams

Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (C), Mark Adair, Gareth Delany, Joshua Little, Kevin O’Brien, Simi Singh, Harry Tector, Benjamin White, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Neil Rock, Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.

Netherlands: Pieter Seelaar (C), Colin Ackermann, Ben Cooper, Scott Edwards, Fred Klaassen, Max O’Dowd, Logan Van Beek, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Philippe Boissevain, Bas De Leede, Brandon Glover, Stephan Myburgh, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Timm Van Der Gugten, Paul Van Meekeren.

Where To Watch

The match will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket. You can keep track of the live score on the ICC website and Cricket Ireland will provide Twitter updates throughout the match.

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Balbirnie received treatment on the field and left it during his innings in the seven-wicket defeat to the UAE on Sunday.

Ireland lost the third game of the T20I series against the host nation, succumbing to a 3-0 series defeat.

They will play Papua New Guinea twice in a warmup series before taking part in the T20 World Cup, which starts on Sunday, October 17.

Mark Rausa, Head of Physiotherapy and Medical Services for Cricket Ireland, said: “Andrew left the field of play during his innings today after being struck on the foot by the ball – specifically a direct blow to the 3rd, 4th and 5th toes.

“Initially, he could not bear weight and reported high levels of pain. The decision was made for him to retire hurt for immediate assessment and treatment.

“He has undergone an X-ray this evening in Abu Dhabi and we are currently awaiting the radiologist report to rule out a fracture to the toes, and will shortly confirm once we receive the report.

“I would like to thank the ICC and BCCI for their help in facilitating Andrew’s transport and assessment swiftly and safely during this period of heightened restrictions and biosecurity measures in the lead up to the T20 World Cup.”

Ireland begin their T20 World Cup campaign on Monday, October 18 when they face the Netherlands.

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The fixtures were officially announced by the Emirates Cricket Board this morning as part of the ‘DafaNews Summer T20 Blast’ – a series of fixtures between 5-10 October also involving UAE, Scotland, Namibia and Papua New Guinea.

Warm-up matches against Papua New Guinea and Bangladesh are also set to be played on October 12 and October 14 respectively.

The side’s T20I World Cup campaign is set to begin on October 18 against the Netherlands.

They most recently played a three-game One Day International series with Zimbabwe earlier this month.

Graham Ford and his squad will leave for the UAE tomorrow and will undertake a mandatory six-day hotel quarantine before being able to begin training.

A preliminary 18-player squad was recently announced – this will be reduced to 15 for the T20 World Cup tournament.

However, the three other players will still travel to the UAE as reserves.

Squad

Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Shane Getkate, Graham Kennedy, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.

Fixtures

Pre-T20 World Cup – preparation period

• 5 October 2021: Ireland v Scotland – warm-up match (ICC Academy Oval 2; start 9am local time)
• 7 October 2021: Ireland v UAE – 1st T20I (ICC Academy Oval 1; start 9am local time)
• 8 October 2021: Ireland v UAE – 2nd T20I (ICC Academy Oval 1; start 9am local time)
• 10 October 2021: Ireland v UAE – 3rd T20I (ICC Academy Oval 1; start 9am local time)

Official T20 World Cup warm-up matches

• 12 October 2021: Ireland v Papua New Guinea – warm-up T20I (Abu Dhabi; start 2pm local time)
• 14 October 2021: Ireland v Bangladesh – warm-up T20I (Abu Dhabi; start 6pm local time)

T20 World Cup – Round 1

• 18 October 2021: Ireland v Netherlands (Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi; starts 10am GMT)
• 20 October 2021: Ireland v Sri Lanka (Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi; starts 2pm GMT)
• 22 October 2021: Ireland v Namibia (Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah; starts 10am GMT)

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The sides will face-off against each other for the first time in 13 years when they played each other in the 2008 European Championship – Ireland beat Spain 41-7 on that occasion in Amsterdam.

The two teams will compete with hosts Italy and Scotland at the Rugby World Cup 2021 Europe Qualifier, with the team in the top spot after the final round earning the place in New Zealand.

Ireland are the favourites to progress from the qualifier and join England, Scotland and Wales as the fourth European side at the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Spain qualified for the qualifier after winning the 2019-20 Women’s Rugby Europe Championship.

Two strong wins over the Netherlands and Russia hint at a side capable of playing with the big teams and an upset could be on the cards this evening if Adam Griggs’ side are not careful.

Ireland have included two uncapped players in the side that will begin the quest for a World Cup spot on Monday evening, including Ireland Sevens captain Lucy Mulhall, who starts at outside centre.

Meanwhile, Spain boss José Antonio Barrio has made four changes to his team, compared to their lineup when they defeated the Netherlands 87-0 as they were crowned Rugby Europe champions back in February.

Commenting ahead of the game, the Ireland Head Coach said: “We have been building towards this tournament for a number of months now, and the players have put in a huge volume of work to get to this point. The 23 selected have the honour of representing the wider group as we set out to achieve our goal of Rugby World Cup Qualification.

“Spain first up will provide a stern test and the group are fully focused on starting our campaign on the front foot. We are confident the combinations and cohesion built up through the Women’s Six Nations will stand us in good stead for the challenges ahead, and we’re now excited to get up and running on Monday evening.”

Teams

SPAIN WOMEN: Iera Echebarria (Eibar RT); Bea Dominguez (Sanse Scrum RC), Amaia Erbina (Jugadora FER), Amalia Argudo (Stade Toulousain), Maria Garcia (CR Majadahonda); Anne Fernandez de Corres (Eibar RT), Patricia Garcia (Exeter Chiefs); Saioa Jaurena (AS Bayonnaise), Marga Rodriguez (Universitario de Sevilla CR), Laura Delgado (Exeter Chiefs) (capt); Anna Puig (UE Santboiana), Monica Castelo (CRAT A Coruna); Olivia Fresneda (CR Cisneros), Maria Calvo (CR Cisneros), Lourdes Alameda (Sanse Scrum RC).

Replacements: Isabel Rico (Olimpico de Pozuelo CR), Cristina Blanco (Olimpico de Pozuelo CR), Maika Brust (AS Bayonnaise), Carmen Castellucci (AC Bobigny 93), Carmen Rodera (CR Majadahonda), Lucia Diaz (CR Majadahonda), Lea Ducher (Universitario de Sevilla CR), Eva Aguirre (CR Majadahonda).

IRELAND WOMEN: Eimear Considine (UL Bohemians/Munster); Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union/Munster), Lucy Mulhall (Rathdrum/Leinster), Sene Naoupu (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Beibhinn Parsons (Ballinasloe/Blackrock College/Connacht); Stacey Flood (Railway Union/Leinster), Kathryn Dane (Old Belvedere/Ulster); Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster), Cliodhna Moloney (Wasps/IQ Rugby), Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Aoife McDermott (Railway Union/Leinster), Nichola Fryday (Blackrock College/Connacht), Dorothy Wall (Blackrock College/Munster), Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemians/Munster) (capt), Brittany Hogan (DCU/Old Belvedere/Ulster).

Replacements: Neve Jones (Malone/Ulster), Laura Feely (Blackrock College/Connacht), Leah Lyons (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby), Sam Monaghan (Wasps/IQ Rugby), Edel McMahon (Wasps/IQ Rugby), Emily Lane (Blackrock College/Munster), Enya Breen (UL Bohemians/Munster), Lauren Delany (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby).

Referee: Nikki O’Donnell (England)
Assistant Referees: Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Clara Munarini (Italy)
TMO: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

Where To Watch

You can watch Ireland’s opening game of the Rugby World Cup 2021 Europe Qualifier on the Rugby World Cup site, Rugby World Cup Facebook and Twitter channels and on World Rugby’s YouTube channel.

There will also be coverage throughout on the Irish Rugby social media channels.

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Ireland came out on top against the Netherlands in a battle that determined who finished behind Scotland in the qualifiers.

The side had beaten France on Sunday morning to set up the showdown with the Dutch.

Batting first, Ireland posted 111/9, with Eimear Richardson hitting a half-century and posting 53 runs.

Gaby Lewis also put up a respectable 32 runs to help Ireland to a strong start against their opponents.

This left Lewis on 145 runs across the qualifiers – the most in the tournament.

Eva Lynch picked up four wickets for the Dutch, while Iris Zwilling also chipped in with three scalps.

In the chase, a lack of contribution from the batters, apart from Robine Rijke who added 32 runs to her cause, proved costly as the Netherlands fell short of the total by 24 runs.

Captain Laura Delany and Cara Murray picked up three wickets apiece for the Irish.

With the victory, Ireland finished behind Scotland, accumulating 6 points in four matches.

Richardson was awarded Player of the Series after spectacular performances throughout the tournament.

Scotland finished at the top of the qualifiers with an unblemished record, earning maximum points and winning all four games.

The Scots comfortably beat France by ten wickets, much like Ireland did on Sunday morning, to finish with a 100% record.

The French were bowled out for 24 when they batted first as the Scottish bowlers wreaked havoc.

The French batters couldn’t register a double-figure score and Scotland gained control of the contest early on.

For the Scots, Megan McColl was the pick of the bowlers with astounding match-figures of 5/3 in her spell of four overs while Abbi Aitken-Drummond also picked up two wickets.

With a small total to chase, the Scottish women went hell for leather, which led to them losing three wickets. But the target was accomplished after only 2.2 overs, continuing their dominant run in the tournament, winning four matches out of four to top the Europe Qualifier.

Scotland will progress to the global qualifier which will begin in 2022 – Ireland have a chance to join them if they are the highest-ranked team on November 30 that did not win their group.

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