Josephine Nkomo arrived at the crease with Zimbabwe's hopes in her hands. It was the 16th over of their 2023 T20 World Cup Qualifier semi-final against Ireland. Zimbabwe were chasing 138 and were 99 for 4. Needing 39 runs in 29 balls, the pressure was building. They lost two wickets in the next 14 balls and only scored nine runs. If they were going to get over the line, Nkomo would have to take them there. She took two runs off the next ball and hit the one after that for four which made the equation 24 from 12 balls. Tough but not impossible. Nkomo found another four off the last ball of the 19th over which meant they needed 15 runs off the final six balls and she was not on strike. Her partner, Precious Marange, scored seven off the first four balls before Nkomo watched a wide and snuck one, leaving Marange to hit six off the last ball to secure victory. It didn't happen. Zimbabwe missed out on a first World Cup appearance by a margin of only four runs. "What I remember is terrible, absolute loss," Nkomo told ESPNcricinfo's Powerplay podcast. "I really thought we could get over the line. It was heartbreaking. I remember watching from the other end and there was nothing that I could do at that time. I was heartbroken. I was just shattered. And I also thought for my team-mates after all the effort, getting so close and not getting over the line. I felt that maybe if you don't even get to the semi-finals, the heartbreak is much better than when you're so close but you don't get over the line. So I wouldn't want to experience that again." Over the next 10 days, Zimbabwe have the chance to make sure Nkomo, and the 11 other squad members who witnessed that defeat first-hand in 2022 don't go through that again as they play in the 2024 T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi. They are grouped with Ireland, Netherlands, UAE and Vanuatu, and must finish in the top two to reach the semi-final, where they will face one of Sri Lanka, Scotland, Thailand, Uganda or the USA and must win that knockout game to qualify for the World Cup. Sri Lanka, who have won series in England and South Africa, and Ireland, who beat Zimbabwe to a place at the last T20 World Cup, are the favourites and Zimbabwe will want to top their group to avoid Sri Lanka in the semis. It's a cut-throat event which rewards the sides that can handle pressure over five matches best. Zimbabwe now have some experience of that. Last month, they won the inaugural cricket event at the Africa Games https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/women-s-african-games-2023-24-1423445/match-schedule-fixtures-and-results where they defeated South Africa in a Super Over in the final. Though their group matches were all against teams ranked lower than them and the final was not an official T20I https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/south-africa-and-zimbabwe-s-matches-at-africa-games-not-given-t20i-status-1426253 because South Africa fielded an emerging side, Zimbabwe still took a lot from the experience. "We really had a good time out there in Ghana. We had a successful tournament as a team and against South Africa and we got over the line," Nkomo said. "It was an exciting game with so much adrenaline in it and we really had a lot of fun."