Bangladesh beat Ireland to win the ICC World T20 Qualifiers

Bangladesh beat Ireland by 25 runs in the final of ICC World T20 Qualifiers. Continuing their winning streak, Bangladesh sealed their place in the Group A of the ICC T20 World Cup along with defending champions West Indies, England, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Ireland will be in Group B along with three-time champions Australia, India, New Zealand and Pakistan.

Having won the toss, Ireland elected to field first. Shamima Sultana and Ayasha Rahman started the innings for Bangladesh. They started off really well but Lucy O'Reilly picked up Sultana’s wicket in the fourth over and handed over the first breakthrough to her team. Rahman and Hoque started building the partnership and managed to score 64 runs by the end of the 10th over. O'Reilly struck again and picked up Hoque's wicket. She departed after scoring 17 off 17.

It was Metcalfe, who scalped two back to back wickets in the 13th over. Due to the collapse in the batting order, Bangladesh was soon reduced to 88-4 in the 13th over. From there, no one anchored the innings till the end. Ireland's restricted bowling and fielding didn't allow the batters to stay long at the crease. Valuable contribution from Jahanara Alam (12 off 11) helped her team to post a total on the board which their bowlers could defend.

For Ireland, Lucy O'Reilly chipped in 4 wickets, Metcalfe two and Delany scalped one wicket.

While chasing, it was looking very easy for Ireland; as the total was a mere 123. Alam picked up Cecelia Joyce's wicket in the 3rd over. It was definitely a big blow for Ireland as their in-form opener got out after scoring 1 off 5. After that Gaby Lewis and Shillington started building the partnership but it didn't stay long. Panna Ghosh picked up Shillington and skipper Delany in the same over. Shillington departed after scoring 14 and Delany out for a duck.

Gaby Lewis tried to help get the chase back on track with her 26 runs but was stumped by a flighted outside off delivery by Ahmed. Ahmed picked up Kim Garth's wicket in the same over and Ireland continued to stumble in the run-chase. Panna Ghosh's five-fer, Akhter and Ahmed's 2-wickets each ended Ireland's innings within 97 runs.

Panna Ghosh was adjudged the 'Player of the Match' for her match-winning figures of 5/16. Clare Shillington was awarded the 'Player of the Tournament' for scoring 126 runs. Esha Oza was awarded the 'Catch of the tournament' for taking the catch in the super over earlier today against Netherlands.

Bangladesh and Ireland qualified for the T20 World Cup.