THE Zimbabwe national women’s cricket team will begin their 2017 ICC World Cup qualifier against Ireland in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Tuesday hoping to not only qualify for International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Cricket World Cup, but to also book a place on the ICC Women Championship.
BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
While qualifying for the World Cup seems like an uphill task, the Zimbabwe side has a realistic chance of earning a spot in the second edition of the ICC Women Championship if they reach the Super Six stage of the ICC Women World Cup qualifier set to run from Tuesday to February 21.
Only the top four teams from the 10-team qualifier will join hosts England, Australia, New Zealand and West Indies at the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup to be held from June 26 to July 23.
“At the moment, earning ODI status and playing in the women championship is just a plus, but we want to qualify for the World Cup first. But it [The ICC Women Championship] will give us a fantastic opportunity to play more cricket as a country,” national team captain Sharne Mayers told Standardsport ahead of this week’s World Cup qualifiers.
“Our passion is cricket, so playing more international cricket means we have to play more local cricket, which means that there will be more cricket for us to play. So we know that we are also representing the women of Zimbabwe, opening the opportunities that were not necessarily there when we started playing cricket,” she added.
Zimbabwe has been drawn in Group A with hosts Sri Lanka, India, Ireland and Thailand while Group B comprises South Africa, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan and Scotland.
The ICC Women Championship was introduced four years ago and had eight national teams playing 50-over matches against each other over a period of three years, with the top four automatically booking a ticket to the World Cup.
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The other four are now competing with regional qualifiers for four other slots to take at the World Cup.
Should Zimbabwe qualify for ICC Women Championships and perform well for the next four years, they will earn an automatic place at the next World Cup to be hosted by New Zealand in 2021.
Zimbabwe kick-off their campaign against Ireland at the Mercantile Cricket Association Ground in Colombo the day after tomorrow but they will have an opportunity to familiarise with the conditions in Sri Lanka when they take on Sri Lanka in a warm-up match today.
“So far we are focusing on that Irish game. It’s going to be a test of skill, but we also have a history with Ireland and they know that they just won against us the last time. It’s a must-win match, even our second our game against Thailand, we want a bigger win in order to get to the Super Six first,” Mayers said.
The top three teams in each group progress to the Super Six Stage and the top four teams at that stage earn a ticket to the World Cup.
Zimbabwe squad for ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier: Sharne Mayers (captain), Precious Marange, Esther Mbofana, Pellagia Mujaji, Modester Mupachikwa (wicketkeeper), Marry-Anne Musonda, Nomatter Mutasa, Ashley Ndiraya, Josephine Nkomo, Nonhlanhla Nyathi (wicketkeeper), Loreen Tshuma, Tasmeen Granger, Nomvelo Sibanda and Anesu Mushangwe.
