After an intense round of Group games, Ireland, UAE, Sri Lanka and Scotland have been confirmed as the semi-finalists of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 Qualifier. The finalists after the two semi-final games on Sunday, 5 May, will head to Bangladesh for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 later this year.
While Sri Lanka and Ireland booked their semi-final spots with a near-flawless performance in the Group stages, Scotland lost a game to Sri Lanka and only qualified on the final day thanks to a six-wicket win over Thailand.
Group B had more drama with UAE just about edging Netherlands for the final semi-final spot with their earlier ten-wicket win over the Dutch proving to be crucial.
On the final day of the Group games, UAE beat Vanuatu by 70 runs to boost their net run rate. Meanwhile, Netherlands lost to Ireland and despite being level on points with UAE, missed out on a place in the semi-finals.
Ireland v Scotland, Semi-final 1
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Ireland boast of a strong head-to-head record against Scotland with nine wins in 13 games. Notably, though, the last time these two teams met, Scotland registered a comprehensive win over Ireland with the Bryce sisters, Kathryn and Sarah, shining.
Ireland have been in ruthless form in the Qualifiers, winning by big margins. They have excelled at both setting targets and chasing them down with two wins apiece.
In great news for Ireland, Orla Prendergast and Laura Delany shone with contributions in their final Group clash against Netherlands. Prendergast and Delany took three wickets apiece to bowl the Netherlands out for 90. Earlier in the game, Delany also starred with a 70 from 45 balls.
Amy Hunter and Gaby Lewis have also been in red hot form for them, with three fifty-plus run partnerships in the four games, each of them coming at frenetic pace.
Scotland, on the other hand, have thrived on good bowling performances in the tournament. They have taken 23 wickets in the four games and only once in their three wins did a team manage to cross the 100-run mark.
Kathryn Bryce, Rachel Slater and Abtaha Maqsood have been the pick of their bowlers in this tournament and the three will need to step up again if they are to stop an in-form Ireland batting unit.
Sri Lanka v UAE, Semi-final 2
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Sri Lanka, the tournament favourites, have lived up to their reputation so far with four wins out of four and should be backing themselves to beat UAE and end up in Bangladesh for the Women’s T20 World Cup later this year.
Like with Scotland, Sri Lanka have been cruising courtesy of some brilliant bowling performances, notably from their spinners.
With Kavisha Dilhari, Inoka Ranaweera and Inoshi Priyadharshani, Sri Lanka have pushed teams onto the backfoot through the middle overs, slowing up the scoring rate and picking up crucial wickets.
Only one team managed to register a triple-digit total against them in the Group stage and Sri Lanka will once again hope their bowlers deliver the goods against UAE.
UAE have faced Sri Lanka just once, back in 2022, when spinners Dilhari, Ranaweera and Sugandika Kumari shared all seven wickets to fall between them.
Sri Lanka haven’t quite managed to put up strong totals in the four games in the tournament so far. Chamari Athapaththu and Vishmi Gunaratne are the only two batters to make over 100 runs in the tournament for them so far.