Pakistan v Ireland: Visitors ‘confident’ before World Cup qualifier, says captain Gaby Lewis

Ireland captain Gaby Lewis says her side are feeling “very confident” before their forthcoming ODI World Cup qualifier event in Pakistan.

Ireland will take part in the six-team qualifier tournament, which runs from Wednesday, 9 April until Friday, 18 April.

They will face Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, Thailand and Scotland in a round-robin format.

The top two teams will qualify for September’s eight-team World Cup, and Lewis believes Ireland are in a good place for their first game against Pakistan on Wednesday.

“We’re feeling very confident going into this qualifier. We’ve had some great preparation leading up to it with a good training camp in Dubai, and we’ve been working really hard to acclimatise to the heat,” she said.

“We’re trying not to put too much pressure on ourselves. It’s mostly about going out, enjoying ourselves and playing with our own aggressive nature – then hopefully the results will look after themselves.”

Ireland have not qualified for an ODI World Cup since 2005, and they came second in last year’s T20 World Cup qualifier after losing against Scotland in the final.

Amy Hunter and Jane Maguire have returned to the squad following injuries, while Kia McCartney has received her first call-up.

Before their opener against Pakistan, Ed Joyce’s side played two warm-up games, against West Indies and Thailand, with all-rounder Laura Delany scoring back-to-back half-centuries.

Lewis believes Delany will be key to Ireland’s hopes of finishing in the top two and qualifying for the tournament in India.

“She has done brilliantly in the first two warm-up games. She’s also been great for us over the last 12 months – so looking forward to seeing her with bat and ball in this qualifier tournament.”