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Kathryn Bryce’s all-round show helps Scotland Women qualify for maiden T20 World Cup
An all-round show by captain Kathryn Bryce helped Scotland Women make history as they qualified for their maiden T20 World Cup, beating Ireland in the first semi-final of the qualifiers on Sunday. Bryce first bagged 4 for 8 with the ball and followed that up with 35* with the bat, as Scotland restricted Ireland to 110, and chased the target down with 22 balls to spare.
The win helped Scotland book one of the two remaining slots for the World Cup proper in Bangladesh in October.
Ireland won the toss and batted first in Abu Dhabi, but the day belonged to Bryce. The right-arm medium-pacer struck twice in the first over of the day, removing both of Ireland’s openers for ducks. Ireland never recovered from those early blows, as they were then reduced to 25 for 5 at the start of the seventh over. By then, Bryce had already completed her four-wicket haul.
Leah Paul and Rebecca Stokell added 22 for the sixth wicket, but even that recovery was halted when Abtaha Maqsood got Stokell for 8. Paul and Arlene Kelly then put on a 60-stand to take Ireland’s total past hundred. Kelly hit 35 from 27 balls, while Paul was dismissed for 45 in the last over.
In the chase, Scotland openers Megan McColl and Saskia Horley started with a 49-run partnership, but McColl was the more dominant partner. Horley had scored only 10 when she fell to Kelly in the eighth over, by which time McColl had moved to 29.
That is when Bryce joined McColl for a stand worth 49. The first three overs of their union produced 27 runs, which included three boundaries from Bryce, and a six from McColl. Both batters kept Scotland ticking steadily in the middle overs, with McColl getting to her half-century in the 15th 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.
Brief scores:
Scotland Women 112 for 2 in 16.2 overs (Megan McColl 50, Kathryn Bryce 35*; Arlene Kelly 2-28) beat Ireland Women 110 for 9 in 20 overs (Leah Paul 45, Arlene Kelly 35; Kathryn Bryce 4-08, Rachel Slater 3-32, Abtaha Maqsood 1-17) by eight wickets
(Cricinfo)
Salman Ali Agha said that he would have done things ‘differently”, after Mehidy Hasan Miraz ran him out in controversial circumstances in the second ODI in Dhaka.
Agha, who made 64 from 62 balls, had been backing up at the non-striker’s end when Mohammad Rizwan drove the ball back towards him. He was still out of his ground as Mehidy swooped round behind him in an attempt to gather, and Agha had appeared ready to pass the ball back to the bowler before Mehidy reached down to grab it first and throw down the stumps.
Agha reacted furiously to the dismissal, throwing his gloves and helmet down in disgust at the decision. However, he later came to the post-match press conference, ahead of captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and player of the match Maaz Sadaqat, to clear the air.
“I think sportsman spirit has to be there,” Agha said. “What he [Mehidy] has done is in the law. I think if he thinks it’s right, it’s right, but if you ask me my perspective, I would have done differently. I would have gone for sportsman spirit. We haven’t done this [type of thing] previously, we would never do that in the future as well.”
Agha explained that he had been trying to pick up the ball to give to Miraz, thinking it was likely to have been called dead. “Actually, the ball hit on my pad and then my bat,” he said. “So I thought he can’t get me run-out now, because the ball already hit on my pad and my bat.
“I was just trying to give him the ball back. I was not looking for the run or anything like that, but he already decided [to make the run-out].”
Agha however regretted his angry reaction. “It was just heat-of-the-moment kind of stuff,” he said. “If you ask me what would I have done, I would have done things differently. But it was everything, whatever happened after that, it was in the moment.”
He was also involved in a robust exchange with Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das, though he didn’t divulge many of the details.
“I can’t remember what I was saying and I can’t remember what he was saying,” he said. “I’m sure I wasn’t saying nice things, and I’m sure he wasn’t saying nice stuff as well. But it was just heat of the moment, so we are fine.
Asked if he had patched things up with Mehidy, Agha said: “I haven’t yet, but don’t worry, I’ll find him.”
Pakistan won the match by 128 runs via the DLS method.
[Cricinfo]
Latest News
US embassy in Baghdad hit by strike as Trump says military targets ‘obliterated’ on Iran’s key oil island
The US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, has been hit by a missile – video shows fire and smoke rising in the aftermath.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump says “every military target” on Iran’s key oil island has been “totally obliterated”, but there was no damage to oil infrastructure.
Kharg Island is a tiny but strategic terminal in the northern Gulf, 22 miles off the coast of Iran In response, Tehran warns oil and energy infrastructure belonging to firms that co-operate with the US will be “turned into a pile of ashes” if Iran’s energy facilities are attacked
Elsewhere in the Middle East: Israel and Iran both warn of fresh attacks, and at least 12 medical staff have been killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon
Meanwhile, more US Marines and warships are expected to be deployed to the Middle East, two officials tell BBC’s partner CBS News
[BBC]
The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix that were scheduled for next month are set to be cancelled as a result of the war in the Middle East.
A formal decision to call off the races has not yet been made but is expected before the end of the weekend.
Freight would need to start being shipped to the Middle East in the coming days. With no sign of the conflict between the US/Israel and Iran coming to a conclusion, holding the races would put personnel at too great a risk.
Neither event will be replaced, with the season being cut to 22 grands prix and F1 taking a commercial hit of more than £100m, given Bahrain and Saudi Arabia pay two of the highest hosting fees.
The race in Bahrain was scheduled to be on 12 April with Jeddah the following weekend.
Consideration was given to holding events at Portimao in Portugal, Imola in Italy or Istanbul Park in Turkey.
But it was accepted that the time to organise a race at any of those locations was too short, and there was little chance of securing a hosting fee.
The decision will mean there is a five-week break between the Japanese Grand Prix on 29 March and Miami on 3 May.
(BBC)
Showers will occur at several places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western and Uva provinces and in Galle, Matara, Mannar and Anuradhapura districts after 2.00 pm.
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