Key events
And, to cap things off, here’s Raf Nicholson’s report from Old Trafford.
Thanks for your company. Scotland have one World Cup win in the bag: can they add another against Haiti in Boston in the wee small hours of the morning? I suspect they can. But first the quieter of the two World Cups has another big occasion. Do join Daniel Gallan for that one.
England got off to a flyer last night, and now the Scots have too. This is three triumphs in one for them: a first win in a T20 World Cup, a fourth successive victory over their closest rivals, and a bonanza in terms of the net run-rate. Their NRR is now 2.00, well behind England’s (4.35), but they’re not expecting to win this group. Their eyes are on the prize of coming second and reaching the semi-finals. They are way ahead of Sri Lanka, who have nul points and a NRR of -4.35. If they can beat West Indies on Thursday, they will be in business.
Gaby Lewis, Ireland’s captain, gives a gracious interview. Asked where it all went wrong, she pinpoints the middle overs, when the Bryces went hard against Ireland’s slow bowlers. The difference between the sides was not just the sisters, but the spinners – Ireland’s took a battering, whereas Scotland’s took six wickets (three each for Kirstie Gordon and Katherine Fraser).
The Player of the Match has to be called Bryce. Yes, it’s Kathryn. Giving an interview, she starts by deflecting the credit to the fans. “The support for both teams was absolutely outstanding.” And she continues by deflecting the credit to her sister. “The outfield was slow, we got up and down really well, and the way Sarah attacked in the middle overs made it easy for me.” She doesn’t even mention her own captaincy, which was outstanding.
The Bryces bossed it. Kathryn made 60, took the only two wickets to fall to a Scottish seamer, and managed her spinners superbly. Sarah made 49, added 106 with her big sister, took a smart stumping and completed the crucial run-out of Orla Prendergast.
SCOTLAND WIN BY 40 RUNS!
Maguire c Slater b K Bryce 2 (Ireland 121 all out) Kathryn Bryce wraps it up! Scotland have their first T20 World Cup win, and Ireland have to wait for theirs.
19th over: Ireland 121-9 (Canning 10, Maguire 2) Ava Canning is determined to go down fighting. She hits a fine lofted drive off Fraser, but it’s all in vain …
18th over: Ireland 113-9 (Canning 4, Maguire 0) It’s been a tale of two collapses for Ireland: first they lost four wickets for just three runs, then Prendergast added 38 with Kelly, and now they’ve lost three for five.
Wicket! Murray c & b Fraser 0 (Ireland 113-9)
Another one! Another one for the Scottish spinners! And another caught-and-bowled!
Wicket! Kelly run out (Fraser) 15 (Ireland 112-8)
After running Prendergast out, poor Kelly has run herself out too.
17th over: Ireland 109-7 (Kelly 14, Canning 1) To make matters worse, Prendergast had just found top gear, swinging Slater’s slower ball for six. The first six today by someone not called Bryce.
Wicket! Prendergast run out (Carter/S Bryce) 33 (Ireland 108-7)
Ah no! Ireland’s only hope has perished in a needless mix-up. Prendergast was happy with a single but Kelly wanted two, and it’s the one in the right who has to go. Shapr work from Darcey Carter, firing the ball in to the keeper.
16th over: Ireland 96-6 (Prendergast 22, Kelly 13) Kathryn Bryce tries her seventh bowler, Priyanaz Chatterji, right-arm medium. Arlene Kelly comes to the party with a cut for four and a lofted square drive for four more. She takes 11 off the over, but still the rate climbs.
15th over: Ireland 85-6 (Prendergast 22, Kelly 2) Gordon starts this over on a hat-trick and she deserves one as she produces a ripper, turning the ball from off stump, beating Prendergast’s prod. When Gordon drops short, Prendergast manages to swing her away for four and two. She’s showing some fight, but the required rate is still not on Ireland’s side: it rises to 15 as they need 77 from the last five over. It’s almost impossible.
14th over: Ireland 77-6 (Prendergast 15, Kelly 1) Prendergast begins the over with a four, driven through the covers, but these Scottish spinners are made of stern stuff and Fraser fights back, conceding only three off the last five balls. the rate climbs to 14. Scotland have only to hold their nerve to complete their first T20 World Cup win.
13th over: Ireland 70-6 (Prendergast 9) Orla Prendergast must be wondering what she is witnessing. Not only have Ireland collapsed, but the required rate has rocketed to 13. They need 92 and Prendergast is going to have get most of them herself.
Wicket! Tector b Gordon 0 (Ireland 70-6)
Bad to worse! Tector can’t detect the line or protect her stumps. Gordon has two in two and three in the over!
Wicket! Paul c & b Gordon 0 (Ireland 70-5)
Paul can only chip back to the bowler. Ireland are falling apart!
Wicket! Stokell b Gordon 2 (Ireland 70-4)
And another! Stokell, looking to steer the ball behind square, misses a straight one and Ireland are in a bad way here.
12th over: Ireland 69-3 (Prendergast 8, Stokell 1) Katherine Fraser is threatening to keep the Player of the Match award out of the hands of the Bryce family: she has 2-0-8-2.
Wicket! Hunter b Fraser 39 (Ireland 67-3)
Big moment! The only Irish batter to look comfortable today has gone, missing a reverse sweep as Fraser strikes again.
11th over: Ireland 66-2 (Hunter 39, Prendergast 7) Kathryn Bryce takes Abel off and trusts herself to restore order. It half-works: she goes for eight runs, two or three below the asking rate, but Hunter maintains her momentum with a slog for four.
“Afternoon Tim,” says Simon McMahon. “Scotland’s women cricketers showing the male footballers the way, though if anyone can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it’s Scotland. In any sport. Maybe today will be different…”
10th over: Ireland 58-2 (Hunter 32, Prendergast 6) Kathryn Bryce brings on her sixth bowler, Chloe Abel, a right-arm medium-pacer who is being watched today by her grandmother. Hunter, seeing the chance to lift the run rate, greets her with a nice controlled pull for four and follows up with a ramp for four more. That’s 14 off the over, so at the halfway stage Ireland are coming back to life.
9th over: Ireland 44-2 (Hunter 21, Prendergast 5) Kirstie Gordon, who conceded only three singles off her first over, repeats the trick with her second. Amy Hunter is going at a reasonable pace with 21 off 25 balls, but still the asking rate climbs – it’s now 10.72 an over.
8th over: Ireland 41-2 (Hunter 19, Prendergast 4) Orla Prendergast, impressive but empty-handed with the ball, gets off the mark with a commanding cut for four.
Wicket! Lewis st K Bryce b Fraser 11 (ireland 37-2)
The big one! After playing herself in, Lewis gets herself out. She goes down the track to the off-spinner but Katherine Fraser sees her coming, releases the ball early and fires it down the off side. Sarah Bryce makes a sharp stumping and Lewis has to go for a stodgy 11 off 19.
7th over: Ireland 35-1 (Hunter 18, Lewis 10) Kathryn Bryce, ringing the changes, brings herself back for a second over. Only four from it as Lewis is still playing herself in. When Hunter plays a punch for two, one of the commentators mentions that Scotland ran no fewer than 23 twos. The running was relentless, especially from the Bryce sisters: as Sarah drily remarked afterwards, “Me and Kathryn know each other pretty well.”
6th over: Ireland 31-1 (Hunter 15, Lewis 9) Bryce turns to spin for the first time, bringing on Kirstie Gordon, the Scot who used to play for England. She keeps up the good work with her slow left-arm, going for only three singles. So the powerplay ends with Scotland in the driving seat: of Ireland’s 31 runs so far, 15 came off one over. The required rate is already over 9, but Hunter and Lewis are still there.
5th over: Ireland 28-1 (Hunter 14, Lewis 8) No sooner has the plug come out than Rachel Slater shoves it back in. This over goes for just a single, and even that is a win for Scotland as Darcey Carter makes a fine diving stop at midwicket to deny Hunter another four. Slater has 2-0-3-0. Wind, what wind?
“Morning from a breezy Old Trafford,” says Guy Hornsby. “It’s the World Cup! Scotland have been really impressive since the Powerplay, with the Bryce sisters giving all the Irish bowlers problems. I think 170+ would have been a stretch today for Gaby Lewis’s team, but after that finish this is still very much gettable. And with the quality of Orla Prendergast and Lewis, Ireland will still feel they have a good shot here.”
4th over: Ireland 27-1 (Hunter 12, Lewis 8) Ireland need a big over and the batters know it. As Fontenla goes too full, she concedes three fours: a straight drive from Lewis, a jammy slice from Hunter, and a much better stroke from Hunter – a cover drive that rings out like a rifle shot. Game on!
3rd over: Ireland 12-1 (Hunter 3, Lewis 3) After making the breakthrough, Kathryn Bryce promptly takes herself off. She wants a different angle, so here is Rachel Slater with her left-arm medium pace, showing good control and a bit of swing, and restricting each batter to a single.
2nd over: Ireland 10-1 (Hunter 2, Lewis 2) The silver lining for Ireland is that Gaby Lewis, their main woman, is in early. She takes a crisp two off Gabriella Fontenla, whose first over is pretty cool for an 18-year-old.
1st over: Ireland 7-1 (Hunter 1) Bryce strikes just as Ireland were thinking they’d got off to a good start.
Wicket! Dalzell c & b K Bryce 6 (Ireland 7-1)
She makes runs, she opens the bowling, she takes sharp catches! Kathryn Bryce sticks out a hand and Alana Dalzell has to go.
1st five balls: Ireland 7-0 (Hunter 1, Dalzell 6) Kathryn Bryce, not content with making 60, opens the bowling. She starts with a ring of five on the off side, surprisingly for an inswing bowler. Amy Hunter goes back and across to nudge the first ball to leg. Alana Dalzell, taking the hint, glances for two. And then she sees a full-length inswinger and drills it for a handsome straight four. And then …
That was an innings of three thirds. Ireland won the powerplay, even though their fielding wasn’t great. Scotland ruled the middle overs as the Bryce sisters built Scotland’s first fifty partnership in a T20 World Cup and then added another 56 for good measure. And Ireland fought back magnificently at the death, with Ava Canning producing the 19th over of her dreams. So we’ve had plenty of ebb-and-flow already. and an uneducated guess says that Ireland are now slight favourites, for two reasons. They’ve got the momentum, and the wind is now on their side, ready to mess with the bowlers’ rhythm and the fielders’ radar.
Scotland set Ireland 162 to win
20th over: Scotland 161-5 (McColl 1, Chatterji 6) It’s another good over for Ireland as Prendergast concedes only five, one of them a leg-bye. Priyanaz Chatterji manages a slog for two, but when she shapes for a switch hit off the last ball, she ends up playing tip and run. Prendergast finishes with 4-0-28-1, which, on merit, could easily have been 4-0-20-2.
19th over: Scotland 156-5 (McColl 1, Chatterji 1) That was the perfect penultimate over: two wickets, including the big one of Kathryn Bryce, and only two runs. Ava Canning finishes with 4-0-27-3 and she may have made all the difference.
