Cricket Ireland approved a recommendation from a recent Board meeting to offer Ireland Women professional contracts for the first time, according to ESPNcricinfo.
In the first-ever meeting between the two teams in T20Is, India registered a 52-run win over bottom-ranked Ireland, becoming the second team to book a place in the semifinals of the ICC Women’s World T20 2018.
Pakistan Women’s captain Javeria Khan scored an unbeaten 74 to help Pakistan keep their tournament hopes alive with a resounding 38-run victory over the Ireland Women.
‘We know we’re the lowest-ranked team and we have a massive task ahead of us, but we’re here to cause upsets. We’ve been working really hard the last couple of years. We’d love if we could automatically qualify for the next World Cup. That’s quite a realistic target for us.’
Backed by two big hundreds, New Zealand Women amassed 490-4 – the highest total in all ODI cricket – to smash records and Ireland Women by 346 runs in Dublin.