I was personally pleased to finally score my first ODI hundred earlier against Netherlands © ICC

The players came into this tournament knowing qualification was an absolute must for South
Africa, so I'm almost as relieved as I am happy that we are going to the Women's World Cup in 2009.

I expected a slightly tougher game against Ireland in our semi-final, but once again we put in an outstanding team effort, with our bowling attack in absolutely superb form.

We've obviously had some interesting matches, against teams of very different standards, but everybody has to start somewhere and I hope teams such as Papua New Guinea and Bermuda would have learned some lessons.

I think the Papua New Guinea opening bowlers have been one of the most difficult attacks we have faced this past week. If they continue to work on their game, there is no reason why they can't be more competitive in the future.

For us, there have been many star performers, although I have been really proud of the way Olivia Anderson has adapted to international cricket.

Given she made her debut in the tournament, to capture two Player-of-the-Match awards says something about her character and her ability.It's great to have her as part of my team.

I was personally pleased to finally score my first ODI hundred against Netherlands - it's been a long time coming and it would be great to get a couple more in the future.

The team were delighted to be invited to Newlands on Friday night as guests of Cricket South
Africa, and spend an evening in the President's Suite. People there seemed genuinely delighted for us that we have made it to the World Cup and were interested in the results of our matches.

It's great to know people in South Africa are behind us and I was excited to hear Graeme Smith and the boys in Bangladesh have been following our progress. It really means a lot to me and the team to get a congratulatory message from them during their Test match.

We need to take this support forward and transform it into generating even greater media interest in the sport. It's not always easy to generate coverage of women's cricket in South Africa but it has been great to see the newspapers, radio and television taking interest and pride in our performances.

It would be brilliant to get to a situation where we can use this exposure to get lots of girls wanting to play the game and for them to beg their parents to take them to watch some cricket and learn from their heroes.

We have 12 months to prepare for the ICC Women's World Cup in Australia and we have a lot of work to do if we want to compete with the very best.

Given most of us have full-time jobs, it is hard to fit in playing and training around our work, but we have all made a commitment to do well for South Africa and with that commitment comes a number of sacrifices.

Hopefully we'll have an opportunity to play some Twenty20 cricket. We don't have much experience of this in South Africa, but the skills you pick up in the format will really help us when we are playing in the World Cup.

The teams that have played more Twenty20s than us seem to have really benefitted from their experiences and are applying the skills picked up in that format of cricket to the 50-over game. We know this is an area that we need to work on and I'm really looking forward to playing alongside some of the other girls in our domestic Twenty20 competition later this year.

The tour to England in a few months' time will be a good measure of how far we have to go to be competitive at next year's Women's World Cup, but all I can ask of my team is to show the same levels of dedication and commitment they have in the build-up to and during this event.

If we keep up the level of performance we have shown this week, then I am sure we should be able to beat Pakistan in the final of this tournament.

	Pakistan celebrate their victory over Netherlands and a place in the Women's World Cup © ICC

It’s still hard to believe that we’re going to be on the plane to Australia for the Women’s World Cup next year.

It was a World Cup win for Pakistan’s men team in Australia back in 1992 that inspired me to take up the game, so to think that I am going to follow in the footsteps of some of my cricketing heroes is amazing.

I don’t think anybody in my family would have thought that when I first picked up a cricket bat aged six-and-a-half and played against my brothers and cousins in the backyard that I would go onto lead my country in the sport. After yesterday’s result, when we beat Netherlands by 94 runs, even Dad might forgive me for all the plants we used to destroy in those backyard games. I don’t think there could have been prouder parents in Pakistan last night.

I tried to treat the semi-final against the Netherlands in the same way as I would any other match. After waking up and getting some breakfast, I finished praying and then did some visualization work to help me with my batting and bowling.

The ground is about half an hour by bus from the team hotel, which gives you plenty of time for mental preparation. We share a bus with the opposition on our way to matches at this event and they normally play their music as well, which keeps everybody’s mood upbeat as it is always interesting to hear what music other girls around the world like to listen to.

There were some girls who were pretty jittery, but I just try and relax and reassure the girls – that is the captain’s job.

Although we didn’t get as many runs as we would have liked, we have such a great bowling attack and I was never really worried that we weren’t going to win the game.

The Netherlands squad were really great to us after the game and even though they were so disappointed, they even joined in some of our celebrations on the bus on the way back to the hotel.

Helmien Rambaldo, who captains their team, even lent her music player to us for our party last night which shows what great spirit there is amongst the players within the women’s game.

Hopefully our victory will lead to some important changes within the sport in Pakistan. Not a lot of people were expecting us to qualify, so it is so exciting to have qualified with so many comprehensive victories this week.

Growing up, we’ve always looked up to other players and it would be nice to think that girls in Pakistan will now be able to look up to us.

I was very lucky that I had the opportunity to play lots of sports, I’m a black belt in karate, I swam for the national team until I was 16 and I enjoy playing golf and tennis as well, but lots of people never have had the chance to play cricket.

Hopefully our win will help improve the domestic structure of the women’s game in Pakistan, creating more leagues across the country, so the participation base can grow and grow. It would be nice to think we might be able to get some of our matches on television as well.

It really was an amazing day on Friday and I still keep thinking back to the final ball of the match when we finally knew that we had won the match. I was so excited I ran straight for the stumps and took them out of the ground, although the umpires made me give them back after the game.

I may have had to give up the stumps, but I am so proud of the fact that nobody will ever be able to take away from me the fact I have led my country to qualification to the Women’s World Cup. If only we can repeat the achievements of our countrymen in 1992 when we play in next year’s event.

But first we have to play South Africa in Sunday’s final and it would be nice to get into habit of winning some silverware then. I already can’t wait to celebrate our World Cup qualification with all my friends and family back in Pakistan – to come back with a trophy as well would be the most incredible feeling ever.

	Urooj Mumtaz claimed a hat-trick in Pakistan's game against Zimbabwe © International Cricket Council

I couldn’t have dreamed for a better start to the tournament – played two, won two, and confidence in the side is sky high.

We have a really strong side – we have a very good bowling attack, with pace and spin options, and we have worked really hard on our fielding which has been good in this tournament so far. We know we have some more work to do on our batting, especially after six run outs in opening game against Ireland, but we showed some good form in our victory over Zimbabwe.

I am really enjoying the playing conditions in Stellenbosch, although the strong winds are a bit different to those back at home, but I have tried to use that to my advantage when I have been bowling. I also love the fact the outfield is soft – it hurts a lot more to dive around on the hard, dusty fields of Pakistan.

I was so proud to take a hat-trick in the game against Zimbabwe, although I was a bit worried that my third ball was going to be dropped as it was only caught at the second attempt.

It was great to speak to friends and family back at home straight after the match on my mobile, although many of them knew that the scores already as they have been following on the internet back at home.

I had taken a hat-trick for Pakistan before, but have yet to do so in a game which has ODI status, so I will have to add this to my to do list for the coming year – although qualification for the Women’s World Cup is certainly the top priority.

We are staying at a coastal resort called Strand, which is about 30 minutes from Stellenbosch, and I absolutely love the awesome views from my room. The sea looks absolutely fantastic and the mountains in the distance are very beautiful.

All eight teams are sharing the hotel and I love having the opportunity to talk to the players from the other teams.

My second team at the event is Bermuda, who we really bonded with when we played a practice game against them before the event started. After the game we shared the bus back with them and we had such fun singing together – we would sing our songs and they would then try and copy us which was so funny.

They are really great girls, who are trying their very best at the event, and it is a massive thing for them to even be playing here considering many of them only took up the game in the last couple of years. They have fantastic team spirit and we have learnt a lot from them in this area and I am sure they will get stronger in the future.

We haven’t toured much abroad before outside of Asia, although we did come on tour to South Africa last year, and I think we all appreciate how lucky we are to be able to travel as not as many girls back at home have that opportunity.

If we qualify for the Women’s World Cup in 2009 it will be the biggest thing that has ever happened in the history of women’s cricket in Pakistan.

Hopefully qualification may create opportunities to improve the support women’s cricket receives in Pakistan and by qualifying for the World Cup I hope that we may be able to generate more sponsorship as well.

It’s a big few months for me as well as once I have finished playing in this event I have my final dentistry exams – both my parents are dentists as well – so hopefully I will have double reason to celebrate in 2008. It’s certainly not been a quiet start to the year.

Tomorrow we are going to relax in the morning and see some of the tourist sites in Cape Town. I really wanted to go diving to see the sharks and I would love go to fishing, which is how I relax in my spare time, but there isn’t time, so instead I’m going to have settle for enjoying the views at the top of Table Mountain. I just wonder if the view will be as spectacular as that from the window of my hotel.

	Half of Ireland's current squad played in the last World Cup including Caitriona Beggs, who also featured in the 2000 edition of the tournament © Cricinfo Ltd

Preparation for this ICC World Cup Qualifier tournament started at the end of the last World Cup, which was also in South Africa. But intensive training began once our squad of 20 was chosen in September.

To say that we were disappointed when the tournament was cancelled in November would be an understatement. All of our preparation was done with a view to travelling to Pakistan. Pakistani cricketers in Ireland spoke to us about conditions and traditions in their home country, and everybody altered their diets to prepare for the change there would be in available food.

Two of my brothers, Dom and Ed, have toured in Asia before and they were able to give me and my sister Cecelia an idea of what to expect, what food we should eat and what to bring with us. Not to be however, and training began again a few weeks after the tournament was cancelled.

We found it difficult training in the months when we did not know where and when we were going to be travelling. Our fitness instructor Rachel Ormrod welcomed us back to fitness every Thursday in the increasingly cold winter weather, and indoor nets got back into full swing.

I suffered a broken index finger on my bowling hand the weekend after Pakistan was cancelled, and the first thing my mother said? “That never would have happened if you were in Pakistan.” When I heard the tournament would not be until February, I was relieved, knowing I would be back playing in time.

Half of our current team played in the last World Cup three years ago, so we are more aware of what to expect this time round. Our assistant coach Thinus Fourie is also from South Africa, and so could tell us more about what we could expect.

Our training week went well, although there were a few tomato faces roaming the streets of Port Elizabeth for the first few days, and some interesting tan lines have started to form from sweat bands and the like. But now we have become accustomed to the heat, and are ready for the even hotter weather of Stellenbosch this week. The rusty edges on our fielding and throwing have been knocked off and we are confident that we are ready to play our first game on Monday.

We have played against four of the teams in this tournament before, and two of those are in our group – Pakistan and Scotland. Zimbabwe is the unknown quantity, but judging from reports of their progress they appear to be a confident side. We have not played Pakistan since this tournament four years ago, so it will be interesting to see what strides they have made in their cricket.

We will be keeping a close eye on the results of the other group as well as our own where there are two teams we have not encountered before – Papua New Guinea, and Bermuda. We would expect South Africa to do well in their group, and the Netherlands are always tough competition.

We wish the seven other teams participating in the Qualifier the best of luck in the coming week.