12 hours Ago By Azhar Khan
LAHORE - Ireland held their nerve in a tense final-over thriller to defeat Scotland, knocking them out of contention for a top-two finish in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2025. Scotland, who had won two of their previous four matches, needed a victory to stay alive in the tournament. They won the toss and elected to bat, but Ireland struck early, removing both openers in quick succession.
Ava Canning delivered a crucial breakthrough, dismissing Sarah Bryce to leave Scotland reeling at 19-3. Kathryn Bryce, the Scottish captain, then anchored the innings with a remarkable performance. She first built a 62-run partnership with Ailsa Lister before wickets fell in clusters again, reducing Scotland to 100-5.
Bryce found another partner in Katherine Fraser, adding 65 valuable runs before Fraser fell to a peach from Cara Murray. Despite the setbacks, Bryce stood tall. Supported briefly by Priyanaz Chatterji and Rachel Slater, she carried her bat with an extraordinary unbeaten 131 off 137 balls, laced with 14 boundaries and two sixes, her maiden ODI century, lifting Scotland to a competitive 268.
For Ireland, Ava Canning shone with the ball, claiming 3-48, while Cara Murray picked up two wickets. Orla Prendergast and Jane Maguire chipped in with one each. Chasing 269, Ireland began in commanding fashion.
Openers Sarah Forbes and Gaby Lewis launched into the bowling attack with confidence, racing to 86 in 15 overs. The pair added over a hundred runs before a miscommunication saw Forbes run out for 55.Scotland struck back with quick wickets – AmyHunter fell for a first-ball duck, and Lewis was removed by Chloe Abel after a fluent 61.
Prendergast looked promising but fell for 33, and as the required rate climbed above six, Scotland seemed to tighten their grip.Katherine Fraser returned to put further pressure with a tight spell of 2-37 and a stunning catch in the 40th over. With the game slipping away, former Irish captain Laura Delany stood firm.
Alongside Jane Maguire, she unleashed a flurry of strokes to drag Ireland closer to the target. Maguire departed in the 49th over, leaving seven to win off the final six balls. Kathryn Bryce, the star with bat and ball, bowled a superb final over and even dismissed Ava Canning, leaving Ireland needing two from two with just one wicket in hand.
But it was Delany, who held her nerve, scampering for a leg bye to seal a memorable one-wicket win for Ireland and send Scotland crashing out of the Qualifiers. Scores in Brief IRELAND 269-9 (Lewis 61, Delany 57*, Forbes 55, Bryce 3-49) beat SCOTLAND 268-7 (Bryce 131*, Canning 3-48) by one wicket..
