Image Credit- ICC
Scotland Women made history on Sunday by defeating Ireland in the first semi-final of the qualifications and making history with an all-around performance led by skipper Kathryn Bryce. As Scotland limited Ireland to 110 and chased the mark down with 22 balls remaining, Bryce first scored 4 for 8 with the ball and then added 35* with the bat.
With the victory, Scotland was able to secure one of the two available spots for the actual World Cup in Bangladesh in October.
In Abu Dhabi, Ireland won the toss and chose to bat first, but Bryce had the best day. In the first over of the day, the medium-pacer with a right arm struck twice, dismissing both of Ireland’s openers for ducks. Ireland was reduced to 25 for 5 at the beginning of the seventh over, demonstrating that they were never able to bounce back from those early blows. Bryce had already taken four wickets at that point.
Leah Paul and Rebecca Stokell put up 22 for the sixth wicket, but Abtaha Maqsood got Stokell for 8 to end even that comeback. After that, Paul and Arlene Kelly performed a 60-stand to push Ireland’s total above 100. Kelly scored 35 runs off of 27 balls, and in the final over, Paul was out for 45.
Megan McColl and Saskia Horley, the openers for Scotland, shared 49 runs at the beginning of the chase, although McColl was the more dominant partner. When Horley was bowled out by Kelly in the eighth over, she had only managed to score ten runs, whereas McColl had reached 29.
At that point, Bryce joined McColl for a 49-stand. 27 runs were scored in their opening three overs together, with three boundaries from Bryce and a six from McColl. In the middle overs, both batters kept Scotland’s scoreboard ticking over steadily; McColl reached her half-century in the fifteenth over.
But she fell immediately after to Kelly. By then, Scotland needed only 13 from the remaining 33 balls. Bryce helped Scotland finish the job, hitting a boundary to finish the proceedings.