Eight teams played in the tournament. The host, Ireland, was joined by the two lowest-placed teams from the 2012 World Twenty20, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as well as five teams from regional qualifying tournaments. Pakistan and Sri Lanka both went on to be undefeated at the tournament, sharing the title after the final was interrupted by rain. Ireland defeated the Netherlands in the third-place playoff to also qualify for the World Twenty20.[2]
Qualification and format
Originally, the ICC had determined that only the winner of the tournament would qualify for the World Twenty20, with that tournament then having only eight teams. This decision was altered at the 2013 International Cricket Council (ICC) annual conference in June 2013, as part of a concerted effort to support women's cricket.[3] The eight teams at the qualifier were divided into two groups based on their ranking, with the four teams that failed to make the semi-finals going on to participate in a repêchage tournament (the Shield).[4]
^Cricket in Ireland is organised on an All-Ireland basis, with tournaments awarded to Ireland as a whole (represented by Cricket Ireland), rather than separately to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (as in, for example, football). All matches in this tournament, however, were played in the Republic of Ireland.