In these crucial semifinal qualifier matches, Bangladesh will play Thailand and Zimbabwe will play Ireland, with the victor of each T20I securing travel to South Africa the following year.
Later on Friday, in the pivotal semifinal qualifier matches, Bangladesh will play Zimbabwe, while Zimbabwe will play Ireland. The winner of each T20I will receive travel reimbursement to South Africa for the Women’s T20 World Cup.
According to ICC, Zimbabwe has had a successful start to the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier with victory against Papua New Guinea (by eight wickets) and Thailand (sic wickets). Zimbabwe will play Ireland at the Zayed Cricket Stadium. They were less spectacular in their third T20I in the group stage, losing to the UAE on the last ball, but they were still guaranteed a spot in the semifinals.
Ireland’s Qualifier started with a 14-run defeat to Bangladesh, who went on to easily win their group. Ireland’s campaign was revived by a nine-wicket thrashing of the USA, but the outcome of the group matches was decided by Scotland’s 19-run victory over Ireland.
The team’s discovery in the Qualifiers has been 16-year-old phenom Kelis Ndlovu of Zimbabwe, who has taken six of the tournament’s second-most wickets. The left-arm spinner has collected wickets while limiting the opposition to just 4.5 runs per over in each game. She was at her best with 3/18 in the opener against PNG. She bats first for Zimbabwe and has scored 46 runs against Thailand and an unbeaten 25 against PNG. She is averaging 39.5 runs in the qualifier.
In the T20I match versus Scotland that determined which team would go to the semifinal, Ireland’s Gaby Lewis struck an explosive 66 off 37 balls in the opening innings. The 21-year-old batswoman carried the team with an unbeaten 44 as Ireland lost just one wicket chasing down the USA’s 91-run total.
From the moment they faced Ireland in their first match in the Qualifiers, Bangladesh, an unbeaten team, stood out. They set Ireland, one of the eventual semifinalists, a total of 143/4 before taking early wickets to keep Ireland at bay throughout the second innings.
They appeared even more fearsome when they bowled Scotland out for 77, chased it down with six wickets and seven overs remaining, and then crushed the USA for 158/1 to set up a 55-run rout. However, Thailand opened the qualifier with a seven-wicket victory over the UAE, holding their opponents to just 92/5 from their 20 overs thanks to some disciplined bowling. Thailand lost by six wickets against Zimbabwe in their second T20I of the group stage after scoring 86/6 from their allotted 20 overs, according to the ICC.
When a semifinal position came available, Thailand used some shrewd bowling to preserve their score of 93/8 against Papua New Guinea and go on to win by 12 runs. Nattaya Boochatham led the way with 4/8 off four overs.
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