Sri Lanka and Pakistan won its vital cross-over matches today in the ICC
Women's World Cup Qualifier 2011 (WWCQ) in Dhaka, Bangladesh and by
virtue of doing so have qualified for the ICC Women's World Cup 2013.The two sides will join West Indies and South Africa at the event in
2013 which also features current world champions England, along with
Australia, India and New Zealand .Pakistan and South Africa have also qualified for the ICC Women's World
Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 by finishing in the top four of the event. West
Indies and Sri Lanka are already qualified for the tournament which will
be played in September next year.Meanwhile, Bangladesh and Netherlands will now head to play-offs for ODI
status. The hosts will face USA in a bid to gain ODI recognition while
The Netherlands will play fellow European ODI side Ireland in a bid to
retain ODI status ? win or lose, Europe will finish this event with only
one ODI women's side.In the ninth/10th play-off, Japan defeated Zimbabwe by six runs in a
high scoring match at BKSP* 2, securing Ema Kuribayashi's side ninth
place in the ICC WWCQ 2011 and its only win of the tournament.At Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS), watched by another
fantastic crowd of local support, Sri Lanka took to the field as
Bangladesh elected to bat first under the bright sunshine.Of the most recent meetings between the two sides, five in total, Sri
Lanka have come out on top all five times and today looked to be no
different in the showdown between the two Asia sides. Sri Lanka's
opening bowler Udeshika Prabhodani had the hosts reeling at 13 for
three, with the departure of key players Ayesha Akhter, Fargana Pinky
and Suktara Rahaman.It was then up to Salma Khatun to lead from the front with the captain
striking 32 before she was caught by the ever athletic Sherina
Ravikumar. Things didn't get much better for the hosts as they managed
to make just 100 in less than 50 overs as once again Sri Lanka's bowlers
continued to hit the target and the side's fielding remained tight.In reply, Dilani Manodara's side stumbled in the beginning and struggled
to secure runs thanks to some tight bowling by the hosts. Yashoda
Mendis departed early but Inoka Galagedara and Sandamali Dolawatte
ensured the runs were on the board and after their departure it was up
to Shashikala Siriwardene to hit the side's winning runs and secure ICC
Women's World Cup qualification for 2013."I'm delighted that we've secured a place at the ICC Women's World Cup
2013 and retained our ODI status, it was our main target when we came
out to Dhaka. Now we have that, our next target is to win the tournament
and improve our global ranking."We knew today that if our bowlers restricted the side to below 200 we
would do well and the best score Bangladesh have against us in 190 which
was in Sri Lanka. I do think they are a much improved side but today
was our day in the field. It was disappointing that we lost wickets
again early on but this can only be improved upon."We knew that it was a slow wicket and coming out second to bat it would
only get slower and would take to the turn, but we finished the job and
secured our win and a place at the World Cup," said Manodara at the
conclusion of the game at Mirpur.Bangladesh captain Salma, was disappointed with the loss but still had
ODI status in her sights for the side. The all-rounder secured Player of
the Match from the on-field umpires, Richard Smith and Kathy Cross, for
her all-round performance in a day which saw a team-effort by both
sides."I'm obviously disappointed that we have lost out on ICC Women's World
Cup qualification but we have to remain positive and make sure we
qualify for ODI status which is our next task."Today our batting didn't perform and we should have made more runs but
once again the Sri Lankans were very tight in the field against us. We
should have batted better out there today, their bowling was good but
runs were there to be scored and we didn't make them."The biggest difference I have found playing against the stronger sides
in this tournament has been the fact that they have played a lot more
cricket than we have, some of the sides here have had well established
women cricket for over 20 years, whereas we have only been playing
regularly for about five years," said Salma.At Khanshaheb Osman Ali Stadium (KSOAS), Sana Mir's Pakistan made sure
runs went on the board to make it a tough task for Helmien Rambaldo's
side when it came to chasing down the target.The Dutch were set a mammoth total of 278 after Sana, along with Bismah
Maroof, Nida Dar and Javeria Wadood piled on the runs for the Pakistanis
to help them on their way to qualification for the ICC Women's World
Cup 2013.Javeria's 67 along with Nida's half-century were helped by in-form
all-rounder Bismah who finished the game 66 not out as the side
displayed some masterstrokes against the Dutch pace and spin attack.In reply, The Netherlands were once again undone by spin, with Bismah
and Nida combining to take three wickets each while Sadia Yousuf claimed
two wickets also. Qanita Jalil's pace took the early wickets of
Rambaldo and Miranda Veringmeier and the Dutch batting line-up collapsed
for 84, with only Denise Hannema and Kerry-Anne Tomlinson managing
double figures.Sana was delighted to once again qualify for an ICC Women's World Cup,
saying: "It feels great to qualify again for the ICC Women's World Cup
again, I have to say though the competition has been much tougher this
time round. We were in a group with the likes of Bangladesh, Ireland and
West Indies all of whom have proven a tough opposition."Today's performance was great, we wanted to make at least 250 and we
did that, with three of the team making half-centuries too. There was
some good bowling which was really tight, the only thing I would like to
improve upon ahead of our match against South Africa is the amount of
extras that we bowled."Sana added that qualification for the 2013 event would mean even greater
things for women's cricket in Pakistan: "After we won gold at the Asian
Games recently, women's cricket has really taken off in the media in
Pakistan and increased in popularity."With our qualification for the ICC Women's World Cup and the ICC
Women's World Twenty20 it means two more years of competitive women's
cricket for Pakistan which is great, it will mean the Pakistan Cricket
Board can plan further about the women's game and develop women's
cricket even more than it already has done."Rambaldo was disappointed to miss out on World Cup qualification but
admitted it was now about learning from the past mistakes and focussing
on the ODI play-off against Ireland with the victor retaining its ODI
status.Rambaldo said: "It's obviously extremely disappointing to have missed
out again on an ICC Women's World Cup qualification but we've now got to
focus on the game against Ireland. We've made mistakes this week and
now it's about rectifying those mistakes against Ireland, a side we know
well."We've played Ireland many times before and in our most recent fixture
against them we beat them. It will be sad to know that at the conclusion
of Thursday's game there will only be one European side with ODI status
but we have to remain positive and beat them.Rambaldo commented on today's loss: "I think Pakistan's win was down to a
combination of batting well along with us bowling some bad balls. We
gave them the opportunity to put runs on the board, even after we took
early wickets; we gave them the chance to build partnerships."In our reply, they bowled well taking two early wickets and despite us
getting some momentum with our partnerships we never managed to get
going. We should have performed better against the spin, it's what we
have been practising for in this event and there's no excuse for poor
batting. The point of cricket and events like this is about accessing
and adjusting to the conditions.In the final fixture of the day, Japan took on Zimbabwe in the
ninth/10th play-off at BKSP 2. Neither side had secured a win in the
tournament ahead of the fixture today but it was Japan's chance with
Kuribayashi's side finishing the victors over their African opponents in
a tight contest.Having won the toss, Sharne Mayers elected to field first for the
Zimbabweans and the side's bowling attack took its time to get going,
with Japan not losing its first wicket till it had posted 42 runs on the
board after Mariko Yamamoto made a patient 38. However, Yamamoto
departed after she was clean bowled by Sinikwe Mpofu.Kuribayashi led by example, the 28-year-old left-hander, was also
patient in her innings, taking 98 balls to reach 47, her highest score
of the tournament. Zimbabwe's bowlers did a good job with Japan's lower
order, dismissing the last five Japanese wickets for 27 runs but not
before Japan had posted its highest total of the tournament, 153.In reply, Zimbabwe's batters were undone by the quickness of the
Japanese in the field and good bowling from Kuribayashi. The captain
claimed one wicket but also caught both Christabel Chatonzwa and
Privilledge Charumbira and was key in the run-out of her counterpart
Mayers. Yamamoto also showed her agility by snaffling key middle-order
batter Nonhlanhla Nyathi caught and bowled.As was the case against USA, Zimbabwe fell short of its target, although
in this case by six runs and succumbed to fifth and final loss in the
event. Audrey Mazvishaya and Sarah Dambanevana were well placed to score
the remaining runs but the side ran out of overs after losing key
wickets early on and victory was there for Japan to savour for the first
time
