Laura Delany celebrated her 200th cap for Ireland by hitting the winning runs in an eight-wicket win over Thailand in Dubai on Thursday night.

Batting first, Thailand could only muster 79 – four wickets for Arlene Kelly and two for the skipper on a night to remember for the Leinster woman.

Ireland’s reply got off to a shaky start with the loss of Lewis in the first over but Amy Hunter (31*) and Orla Prendergast (32) set up an ultimately comfortable win for Delany (15*) to seal.

Ireland now head to Abu Dhabi for two warm-up fixtures against Scotland (Sunday, 21 April) and the USA (Tuesday, 23 April) before their World Cup Qualifier campaign gets underway against hosts UAE on Thursday, 25 April.

The tournament features ten teams vying for the two available spots at the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, with Ireland pitted against UAE, Zimbabwe, Netherlands, and Vanuatu in Group B.

The top-two of that group will go onto contest the semi-finals, the winners of which will then punch their tickets to the World Cup later in the year.

Ireland Women v Thailand Women, 2nd T20I, Sevens Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates — 18 April 2024
Thailand 79 (19 overs; N Koncharoenkai 27; A Kelly 4-12, L Delany 2-13)
Ireland 83-2 (13.2 overs; O Prendergast 32, A Hunter 31*; C Sutthiruang 1-22) 
Ireland Women won by 8 wickets