Women's T20 World Cup: Arlene Kelly rues Ireland's lack of clinical edge in Pakistan loss
- Published
Orla Prendergast reached 30 from 18 balls, but it wasn't enough as Ireland fell to a heavy defeat against Pakistan
Arlene Kelly admits that Ireland were not clinical enough as they suffered a heavy loss to Pakistan in their second game of the T20 Women's World Cup.
Muneeba Ali hit Pakistan's first century in T20 cricket with a brilliant 101 as they made 165-5 to claim their first victory of the tournament.
Ireland collapsed from 88-6 to 95 all out, losing by 70 runs in Cape Town.
They now sit bottom of Group 2 and are still awaiting their first win at a Women's World Cup.
"I think we weren't clinical enough. We knew that if we could perform at our best, we were definitely in with a chance, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case," said 29-year old Kelly.
"We did bowl two sides of the wicket and struggled to kind of build any pressure.
"I think that's a disappointing result. It is fair to say that Pakistan were clinical on all three facets and we probably weren't up to scratch."
Kelly was keen to acknowledge the outstanding contribution of wicketkeeper Ali, but felt Ireland still could have won the game had they been more ruthless.
"Muneeba put together an outstanding knock, it was an exceptional innings," she said. "They did put out a strong performance, but they still gave us chances and we weren't able to take those. We know we're better than what we put out there."
Despite her disappointment, Kelly maintained that she was optimistic for the rest of the tournament, after some bright moments against Pakistan.
Orla Prendergast scored 30 from just 18 balls, whilst Eimear Richardson finished with 28 from 17 balls, after hitting five consecutive fours split across three overs.
"We did get off to a good start," added Kelly.
"I think it's just about maximising in those middle periods. I guess batting out the full 20 overs becomes crucial.
"We felt in the game when chasing 160 at halfway. We bat deep, we know that that's a good wicket and the outfield's quick. We want to take a fearless approach to this cricket.
"We want to fight right to the end. There's still a lot of positives that we can take from that performance" she added.
Ireland face uphill battle
Having also lost their opening game by four wickets to England on Monday, Ireland face an uphill battle to make the knockout stages.
They need victories in their remaining fixtures against the West Indies and India and for other results to go their way to avoid a group stage exit.
Kelly is hopeful that Ireland can redeem themselves in their final two games, starting with Friday's contest against the West Indies, who are also winless so far.
"We've got two more games at this stage, so two more opportunities to show the world what we are capable of. We're going to look to make the most of that.
"We know it's a quick turnaround, in T20, anything can happen. We've got a big game on Friday, which we'll turn our attention to.
"It is another night game out here, so we'll be a bit more familiar with the conditions. The morale within camp is still fantastic, they are a good group of girls.
"We'll come out on Friday to play a brand of fearless cricket. We'll be looking to right our wrongs and come out fighting."