Ireland women's cricket captain Gaby Lewis heaped praise on her players after her squad qualified for this summer's T20 World Cup thanks to a 62-run victory against Thailand in Nepal.
Ireland finished second in the qualifying tournament in Katmandu and head for the England/Wales-hosted tournament along with the Netherlands, Bangladesh and Scotland.
The 12-nation lineup for the Women's T20 World Cup is now complete, with the finals taking place from 12 June to 5 July. England, India, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies the other eight teams who had pre-qualified.
Ireland batted first and scored 121 for 8 which was below par, but their bowlers stepped up to the mark and Thailand collapsed for just 59 in 16.1 overs, giving Ireland a 62-run win.
The Player of the Match was Arlene Kelly, who reached the milestone of 100 caps for Ireland across formats. Louise Little hit 50 caps for her country, while Lewis won top run scorer for the tournament with 276 runs.
"I actually thought that the 120-odd was a very competitive total against their spin attack," Lewis told RTÉ sport after the game.
"And yeah, the girls bowled absolutely brilliantly. I think in every game different bowlers stood up at different times, which was great."
Ireland had to cope with changing conditions throughout the qualifying tournament which saw defeats to both Bangladesh and Scotland, but the win over Thailand put Ireland into the finals this summer.
"I think (in) every qualifying game you can't underestimate any team," added Lewis.
"So, we went into every game trying to win. And yeah, we were very disappointed with that Bangladesh game because we felt like we got into a winning position and we just let it slip.
"It’s easy looking back now and you could have done this, could have done that.
"It'll be hugely exciting and obviously feel as close to home as maybe we'll get in the next few years."
"But look, we finished second and we would have taken that at the start of the tournament. We can learn from the defeats especially the Scotland game, there was probably a lot of scars there from the previous qualifier and losing to them.
"I think there was a bit of fear there, but we had some really good conversations after that game and the girls really switched it on for that Holland game (which Ireland won).
"It was great to see the girls bounce back."
Lewis is now looking forward to the summer and contesting the finals in the UK
"It'll be hugely exciting and obviously feel as close to home as maybe we'll get in the next few years.
"Obviously we've a tri-series against Pakistan and West Indies before that, which will be great for us to start it somewhere well and hopefully continue it on throughout the summer.
"Having that tri-series before will be good preparation for us.
"Often times when you go abroad, you need to have a week-long or 10-day-long pre-camp just to climatise the conditions.
"So that'll be a huge advantage to us and obviously the other three European teams that are partaking in the tournament."
When asked bout the support the team had received from Cricket Ireland, Lewis said: "It's been brilliant. We had to bring in a contract structure, which has been a game changer for us and having availability for every tour has been massive.
"You can't expect us to go out there and play against a fully professional side if we're not being treated the same and we're expected to perform.
"I think they've realised the last couple of years that structures needed to change and the Players' Association have been massive in pushing that. We're hugely grateful for the work they've put in to get us to where we are."
