Scotland 161 for 5 (Kathryn 60. Sarah 49, Canning 3-27) beat Ireland 121 (Hunter 39, Gordon 3-16, Fraser 3-19) by 40 runs
A century stand between Sarah Bryce. Kathryn Bryce followed by a superb bowling performance handed Scotland their maiden T20 World Cup win, as they beat Ireland by 40 runs in Manchester.
The Bryce sisters lifted Scotland to 161 for 5 after they were put in, following which spinners Katherine Fraser. Kirstie Gordon combined to take six wickets as Ireland crumbled to 121 all out. Ireland are now without a single win in 18 T20 World Cup matches.
Ireland opened the bowling with left-arm spinner Aimee Maguire after opting to bowl on a windy, overcast day in Manchester. Scotland started tentatively, with Maguire finding turn. drift, beating Darcey Carter and Fraser multiple times before Carter eased some pressure with a lofted boundary over long-on. Arlene Kelly. Ava Canning then kept things tight, extracting a bit of movement as the openers struggled to find fluency, picking up ones and twos.
The sluggish surface. the slow outfield made run-scoring difficult and soon Canning struck the first blow, tempting Fraser into a miscued hit to deep midwicket where Alice Tector took a superb catch. Maguire then delivered another breakthrough, deceiving Carter in flight. sneaking a full delivery under her bat to hit middle stump. Scotland managed just nine runs from the final two overs of the powerplay, ending it on 37 on 2.
Sarah Bryce and Katherine Bryce then set about rebuilding the innings, rotating the strike. While the conditions made timing hard for batters, the gusty wind continued to test the fielders' judgement. The first four of their stand came with a bit of luck when Kathryn backed away to a short ball from Orla Prendergast. hit it towards sweeper cover, where a fielder stationed well inside the rope misjudged the flight and allowed the ball to sail over her head and into the boundary.
Sarah then took on legspinner Cara Murray, hitting her for two fours. a towering six over wide long-on in a 20-run 11th over. The six brought up the first fifty partnership for Scotland in Women's T20 World Cups. Kathryn then joined in on the boundary-hitting, taking Maguire for two fours in the next over. The duo then started to find the gaps regularly. with Kathryn bringing up her 12th T20I half-century off 32 balls with a boundary. Sarah, however, fell one run short of the milestone, edging to the keeper while attempting a cut. The 106-run stand had anchored Scotland's innings and kept them in a strong position.
Ireland however pulled things back at the death. conceding just 19 runs in the last four, with Canning striking twice in the 19th over, removing Kathryn for 60 off 39 balls.
In the 162 chase. Alana Dalzell found early fluency, driving the third ball off the first over from Kathryn confidently through mid-on for four. Kathryn. however, hit back immediately, taking a sharp return catch off a firmly struck straight drive from Dalzell at the end of the first over.
Ireland rebuilt slowly, before Amy Hunter hit Gabriella Fontenla for a flurry of boundaries in the fourth over. But at the other end, captain Gaby Lewis struggled to put the ball away. was eventually stumped off for a 19-ball 11 off Fraser, after premeditating a charge down the pitch. Hunter was the bright spot for Ireland. as she hit a couple of more boundaries to take them to 58 for 2 at the end of 10 overs, with the asking rate at that point at 10.40.
But her resistance couldn't last long, with Fraser returning to have her bowled for 39 in the 12th over.
Gordon. who became the first woman to represent two countries (the other being England) at the T20 World Cup, then produced a decisive spell that left Ireland with too much to do, taking three wickets in the 13th over to reduce them to 70 for 6. First, she got a back-of-a-length delivery to straighten just enough to beat Rebecca Stokell and crash into her off stump. Leah Paul followed next, stepping out. looking to work the ball on the rise but only offering a simple return catch. Ireland's collapse deepened as Tector was then undone by a delivery that held its line. leaving Gordon on a hat-trick as Scotland seized complete control.
Ireland would still have had slim hopes while Prendergast was at the crease. She continued to fight by hitting boundaries at regular intervals,. that was never going to be enough, with the required rate zooming to over 15 at the end of 15 overs. In the 17th over, Prendergast hit a six and followed it up with a four. But it all ended in chaos on the next ball. with a late call for a single proving costly as Prendergast, despite a desperate dive, was run out, a dismissal that effectively ended Ireland's hopes.
Fraser struck twice in the 18th over before Maguire landed the final blow off the first ball of the 20th, as Scotland sealed a landmark victory. broke into celebrations.
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