Women's World T20: Bruised South Africa look to re-ignite semi-final hopes against lowly Ireland

Chennai: Outclassed by three-time champions Australia in their opening match, South Africa will look to turn around their campaign and keep their semifinal hopes alive when they clash with a lowly Ireland in their ICC Women’s World Twenty 20 match in Chennai on Wednesday. South Africa suffered a six-wicket loss to Australia in at Nagpur on Friday and they will look to get across the Irish team, who are still nursing their double loss against New Zealand and Sri Lanka. South Africa almost has a settled line up and they would not be unduly worried at the Chepauk turf where they had two practice games and training before the tournament. [caption id=“attachment_2690350” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File Photo of South African Women’s Cricket team. GettyImages[/caption] With a strong line up that is flush with talent, South Africa will start as favourites tomorrow and they would look to step up their game ahead of their clashes against New Zealand and Sri Lanka later in the league phase. Their openers Trisha Chetty (45) and D van Niekerk (34) had done well against Australia when they shared a 72-run stand and skipper M du Preez will expect another good show from them. But what is worrisome is the lack of contribution from their middle-order. South Africa’s bowling will revolve around Shabnim Ismail, who scalped two Aussie wickets early on to give them a glimmer of hope in their last match. On the other hand, the Irish, who qualified for the tournament along with Bangladesh, also cannot be taken lightly or be written off until the last ball is bowled. Irish captain, Isobel Joyce, opener Clare Shillington and top order batswomen Cath Dalton, Cecelia Joyce are expected to perform better than what they dished out so far. In fact, the Joyce duo could also assist in the bowling attack. The Irish three spinners Cecelia Joyce, Gaby Lewis and Ciara Metcalfe could play wonders at the spin friendly wicket at Chepauk. Ireland seems to be short on experience and big match players but their enthusiasm and athleticism have somewhat compensated for the absence of established stars. PTI