Bristol, June 27 (IANS) Ireland captain Gaby Lewis praised her team’s resilience and togetherness after they secured their first-ever victory in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with a convincing six-wicket win over West Indies in their final Group Stage match at the County Ground in Bristol on Saturday.

Ireland produced a complete all-round performance, restricting West Indies to 128/7 before chasing down the target in just 18.1 overs. Orla Prendergast starred with a superb 63 off 44 balls to guide Ireland home and seal a memorable milestone for the team.

Speaking after the historic victory, an emotional Lewis said the result was a reward for the team’s determination after enduring a difficult tournament.

“I’m absolutely delighted. Just so proud of the girls. It’s been a tough tournament, you know, some close losses and also some heavy losses, which is hard. But I think, you know, a tournament like this, you just have to dust them off and move on. I think the girls have done that brilliantly. We keep bouncing back,” Lewis said.

The Ireland skipper also praised her young bowling attack, which played a key role in limiting the West Indies batters throughout the innings.

“We’ve such a young bowling attack. And yeah, just really, really proud of the girls today,” she added.

After Ireland restricted West Indies to 128/7, Lewis said the dressing room remained confident that the target was well within reach despite earlier struggles during the tournament.

“I think we knew it was reachable with the batting order that we have. We’ve got batters, and we’ve got some world-class players. So definitely confident going into that innings,” Lewis said.

She credited the bowlers for their excellent work during the closing overs, where they prevented West Indies from building late momentum.

“I think we bowled really well towards the death. We really restricted them with the players that we were bowling at. Limiting the boundaries was massive. Then it was about getting ourselves in, reading the conditions, and playing positive cricket. I think the girls did that today,” she said.

Ireland’s chase was anchored by Prendergast, who struck eight fours and two sixes in a match-winning innings, while Amy Hunter contributed 28 in a crucial 62-run partnership for the second wicket.

Lewis, who was dismissed for nine early in the chase, said the team’s belief never faded despite a challenging campaign.

“I think we just looked back at what we’ve done. We had some defeats, but there were actually some really positive periods, really positive spells and knocks. We held on to those,” she said.

“I think it’s easy to get too down or too high, but we’ve really stayed around each other as a group. We’re such a close group, which really helps. Not only on the pitch, but we’re picking each other up off the pitch as well. I’m just so, so happy with today,” she concluded.

–IANS

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