With pleasant weather and the sun shining a spotlight on Kathmandu after months of anticipation the opening day of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global qualifier saw Ireland beat PNG by 41 runs while the Netherlands won against Zimbabwe by 22 runs.

Ireland 146-6 (20 overs): 

Orla Prendergast 56 (44), Gaby Lewis 42 (25); Hane Tau 4-25

PNG 105-6 (20 overs): 

Hollan Doriga 19 (28), Konio Oala 16 (14); Arlene Kelly 2-18

Ireland win by 41 runs

Skipper Gaby Lewis won the toss and opted to bat first showing her intent from the get go scoring a magnificent 42 runs from 25 balls maximising the powerplay overs and putting Ireland in a strong position. 

Opener Sarah Forbes struggled with the bat as she made 6 runs in 13 balls and was caught outside the crease by Brenda Tau who picked up three stumpings over the course of the innings. 

Orla Prendergast continued to show why she is among the elite players in the world, crafting a brilliant 56 from 44 balls to steer Ireland's ship to a competitive total with 146-6.

Ireland struggled to navigate the bowling of Hane Tau who picked up four of the six Irish wickets, including both Lewis and Prendergast.

The second innings saw PNG get off to a dire start with Prendergast opening the bowling with a maiden over.

With the required run-rate mounting the batters began to counter-attack, taking their chances against Arlene Kelly with her opening over yielding 11 runs, the PNG attack was short-lived as Kelly bounced back taking two wickets, dismissing opener Hollan Doriga and trapping skipper Brenda. 

The batters failed to up the scoring rate with the constant pressure applied by Ireland and finished with 105-6 on the board falling 41 runs short, a margin of victory that sees Ireland top the group on NRR.

Netherlands 122 all out (19 overs): 

Phebe Molkenboer 27 (26), Sterre Kalis 26 (29); Christabel Chatonzwa 5-22

Zimbabwe 100-8 (20 overs): 

Nyasha Gwanzura 27 (16), Chiedza Dhururu 16 (20); Isabel van der Woning 2-4

The Netherlands win by 22 runs

The Netherlands were put to bat first by Zimbabwe, after the full member nation won the toss.

The Netherlands had a disastrous start after Heather Siegers and skipper Babette de Leede lost their wickets on back to back deliveries courtesy of Christabel Chatonzwa who picked up five wickets in the innings.

Phebe Molkenboer managed to stay at the crease and anchor the innings, scoring 27 runs from 26 balls despite losing three batting partners at the other end.

The partnership of the innings came when Molkenboer was joined by Sterre Kalis who scored a gritty 26 runs as the duo put on 53 runs in 51 balls steadying the ship, with Robin Rijke (15) and Sanya Khurana (13) chipping with handy contributions as the Netherlands were bowled out for 122 in 19 overs.

The Dutch bowling unit were on point from the get go lead by Iris Zwilling striking in the first over. The Netherlands used all their firepower deploying seven different bowlers over the 20 overs showing the depth and versitality in the side.

Isabel van der Woning was the pick of the bowlers finishing with figures of 2-4 in two overs, with an unbelievable economy rate of two runs per over. Zimbabwe never looked to be in control.

Nyasha Gwanzura led a late fightback for Zimbabwe scoring 27 runs in 16 balls but they fell 22 runs short of the total, handing Netherlands a crucial win in their first fixture.