IRELAND’S preparation for the World Cup qualifiers goes up a gear today when Pakistan come to Clontarf for three testing T20 internationals.

Fatima Sana’s side are ranked 8th, directly above Ireland, adding more fuel to an already spicy series.

The last time the sides met outside a tournament was in Lahore 2½ years ago, when Ireland stunned their hosts with a 2-1 series win. The first game in Gaddafi Stadium saw a brilliant opening spell where Orla Prendergast bowled her four overs from the top, ending with figures of 4-1-10-3.

She didn’t take another wicket in the series, but innings of 37, 20 and 39 helped her side to a notable scalp on away soil. Facing them this week is a useful measure, says Prendergast.

‘Pakistan are definitely a side that we've competed with a lot in the last two or three years. I suppose we're similar enough in rankings. But we're quite a different side to them, which makes for an interesting competition.

‘We know that we're well able to beat them. If we if we play our own style of cricket and play our own aggressive brand that we've kind of created in the last couple of years, there's no doubts in our minds that we should be winning this series, especially on home soil.

‘And I suppose to achieve this, playing our own brand, taking positives in the Zimbabwe series, and really knocking down on some things that we can improve on. And, yeah, playing positively and aggressively, and we know that we have it in us to win the series.’

Ireland are in a period of transition, with Ed Joyce stepping down. She is keen to pay tribute to the former coach: ‘Ed was my first international coach, my first batting coach, and an absolutely incredible coach for me personally. If I was to compare my game five, six years ago to what I what I have now, they're pretty much incomparable and a lot of that is down to the work I've done with him.

‘He has been amazing really for game plans on the pitch, mindset off the pitch. Any kind of success I've had in the last few years, a lot of it is definitely down to the work and the help I've received from him.’

The introduction of Lloyd Tennant, a former Leicestershire seamer, has brought a switch in emphasis.

‘It has been massive for us to have a proper seam bowling specialist,’ says Prendergast. ‘We have a good core group of young seamers that all have a bit of pace, but, yeah, we're probably lacking really express pace within our attack. Lloyd has the skill and the knowledge to push us on in that level.

‘If we want to be taking on and beating top-ranked teams, you need express seamers that can rush players, and run through a tail if needed. It's something that we're missing.

‘You can see the benefits and the work that he's done even in the last six weeks. It’s so exciting to think of what we could really push on and grow into as a unit.’