Dubai, Nov 25, 2016: Pakistan captain Sana Mir has praised the ICC Women’s Championship for the exposure it provided to her team, which finished seventh in the tournament.
The 30-year-old indicated that the tournament had given the team confidence as it not only won some matches but also contested well against top teams. Pakistan finished with 14 points in the tournament, three less than sixth-placed South Africa but nine more than Sri Lanka.
Pakistan failed to qualify directly for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 but will get a second shot through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 early next year.
Australia, which topped the points table with 36 points, was awarded the trophy on November 23 after its last IWC match against South Africa.
Pakistan captain Sana Mir:
“The IWC provided us with an opportunity to play the top teams outside the big events like the World Cups. This was the first time we played a bilateral series with these teams and it has surely helped us to develop faster and gave us more confidence.
“The team played some brilliant cricket in Australia and came close to earning a win against them. The series whitewash against Sri Lanka was a good achievement.
“We would like to go to Sri Lanka before the qualifiers and play some cricket there. Before the World Cup it would be great to get a couple of ODI series against tougher opposition. Our batting is consistently improving. We need to work harder on our power play, bowling and overall fielding.”
About ICC women’s tournaments:
The inaugural ICC Women’s Championship ran from 2014-16 in which eight top teams played against each other in three-match series, giving them 21 ODI matches each. The top four were assured of automatic qualification to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 to be held in England and Wales from June 26 to July 23.
World champion Australia was a comfortable winner of the tournament that ended on November 23. Australia finished with 36 points on the points table with England (29), New Zealand (26) and the West Indies (22) the other teams to qualify directly.
The four bottom-placed teams of the ICC Women’s Championship – India, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will get another chance to make it to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 as they will compete with six other teams in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 7 to 21 February.
Bangladesh, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Thailand will be the other teams playing in the Qualifier, with the top four teams advancing to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017. —- ICC
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