Joyce plots T20 World Cup shocks

It is new territory for the Irish women’s cricket team as they competed at their first ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh today.

They are ranked 10th of the 10 teams competing, and it’s not surprising given that the other sides boast either full-time or semi-professional players. But for captain Isobel Joyce, Ireland are capable of causing an upset or two.

“We’ll go into every game looking to win, but New Zealand and Australia would be the favourites in our group. We played Pakistan in January in Qatar in a warm-up tournament and we beat them, and we think we have the beating of South Africa too,” said the Bray woman, whose twin sister Cecelia also plays.