Ireland coast home against the UAE to begin T20 World Cup qualifiers win a win

Ireland (106-4, 16.1 overs) (Gaby Lewis 27, Amy Hunter 25; Esha Oza 3-13) beat the UAE (105-9, 20 overs) (Theertha Satish 24; Arlene Kelly 2-12) by six wickets.

Ireland began their campaign to qualify for September’s T20 World Cup with a straightforward victory over the UAE in Abu Dhabi.

After winning the toss and opting to bowl first, spinners Eimear Richardson (two) and Cara Murray (one) combined for three wickets in a middle-over span which pinned back the UAE after their solid start.

Ireland’s decent ground fielding combined with some less than stellar decisions when running between the wicket also led to a pair of UAE runouts, while Arlene Kelly (2-12) continued in her customary role of effectively limiting damage at the death.

Eyeing a meagre total of 106, Irish openers Gaby Lewis and Amy Hunter threatened to make a mockery of the chase with eight boundaries between them in the powerplay, only for the UAE to cause a minor wobble. Both openers were caught behind before off-spinner Esha Oza removed skipper Laura Delany and Rebecca Stokell in quick succession.

Given the low total, though, Ireland were able to consolidate through Orla Prendergast and Richardson before the latter’s boundary flurry killed the game off with just under four overs to spare.