AT a press conference yesterday at the Marriott Hotel, the respective captains of Bangladesh and Ireland women’s team, Salma Khatun and Laura Delany, both expressed optimism as regards to their team’s chances at the fast-approaching ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

The two teams will head into action tomorrow when they clash in the first official warm-up match here in Guyana at Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
Ireland’s Delany noted that while the “conditions are very different from back home, we’re quite happy; we had a couple of good sessions and we’re looking forward to acclimatising as soon as we can ahead of our first warm-up match against Bangladesh.”
She also revealed that the team has different targets and strategies that they set for different teams.

Meanwhile, she also pointed out that the experience against New Zealand and Bangladesh in recent months will be valuable. Some of the key players for Ireland will be 17-year-old Gaby Lewis who bats at number three, 22-year-old all-rounder Kim Garth and 35-year-old Isobel Joyce who is one of the most experienced player in the current side.
26-year-old Delany, who was appointed captain just last month also posited that since the last World T20, Ireland have learnt a lot.

“The game has evolved and we are trying to challenge ourselves and we have targets set for each game, I’m pretty confident that with all the hard work we put in over the last 18 months we will be able to meet our targets.”

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Khatun also underscored the importance of preparation, noting that she’s happy with the composition of the team. We have a variety of players, they have worked very hard for the last year and a half, I’m very hopeful that we’ll do well at the world cup.”

One of Bangladesh’s main goals, according to Khatun, will be to reach the ‘Super 4’ stage. “We’re hopeful about reaching the Super 4, it’s a challenge for us playing at this level; we’re hopeful nevertheless.”

Ireland were the first team to arrive in Guyana on Monday night, while Bangladesh touched down on Thursday evening. The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup which is being hosted by three Caribbean countries inclusive of Guyana will bowl off on November 9 and end on November 24.

The ten teams who will be competing are Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Ireland and Bangladesh.

Eight of the ten teams qualified automatically, with Bangladesh and Ireland finishing first and second respectively at the Qualifier tournament in July of this year in the Netherlands. They won their respective semi-final matches in the qualifier, to advance to the Women’s World Twenty20 tournament.

FIXTURES
ICC WWT20, 2018 Warm-Up Matches (Guyana)
Sunday, November 4 – Bangladesh vs Ireland at 16:00hrs
Tuesday, November 6 – South Africa vs Australia at 16:00hrs
Tuesday, November 6 – Bangladesh vs Pakistan at 20:00hrs
Wednesday, November 7 – England vs India at 16:00hrs
Wednesday, November 7 – Windies vs New Zealand at 20:00hrs

ICC WWT20, 2018 Match Schedule (Guyana)
Friday, November 9 – New Zealand vs India at 11:00hrs
Friday, November 9 – Australia vs Pakistan at 16:00hrs
Friday, November 9 – Windies vs Bangladesh at 20:00hrs
Sunday, November 11 – India vs Pakistan at 11:00hrs
Sunday, November 11 – Australia vs Ireland at 16:00hrs
Tuesday, November 13 – Pakistan vs Ireland at 16:00hrs
Tuesday, November 13 – Australia vs New Zealand at 20:00hrs
Thursday, November 15 – India vs Ireland at 11:00hrs
Thursday, November 15 – New Zealand vs Pakistan at 16:00hrs
Saturday, November 17 – India vs Australia at 11:00hrs
Saturday, November 17 – New Zealand vs Ireland at 16:00hrs