Heather Knight’s England road team cruised to a comfortable 10-wicket victory with 10 overs to spare, but the scoreline only tells you so much.
The Scots are extremely proud of their sovereignty. It is why, for generations, the country has toyed with the prospect of splitting free from England and the United Kingdom.It’s only natural that this attitude permeated the T20 World Cup group stage match between the two teams on Sunday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, particularly the anthems.
Heather Knight’s England side cruised to a comfortable 10-wicket victory with 10 overs to spare, but the scorecard only tells you so much.Scotland, maybe for the first time in this tournament, threw caution to the wind and batted without concern, having long since concluded its World Cup campaign. With the Bryce sisters leading the charge, Scotland’s team score of 109/6 is the highest it has achieved in this competition.
The foundation was set by sister Sarah’s 31-ball 27 and captain Kathryn’s 28-ball 33, which gave the side’s bowlers something to work with and a modest total.
Given that this is our final game, there has been a lot of anticipation for it today. All we wanted was to have fun with this final game. It’s been amazing. Regarding the batting effort, Kathryn remarked, “Steep learning curve for a lot of girls but nice to have that experience under belt.”Sophie Ecclestone was predictably the pick of the bowlers for the former T20 World Champion, taking two wickets for just 13 runs in her spell.
Border-based sparring on one side, these two nations enjoy banter and rivalries in sporting spheres. But that looks a bit different in the women’s game.
Scotland players often look for training and playing opportunities across the border and grow in the more established English framework. Many players in this game have shared dressing rooms and therefore know each other and their games pretty well.Scotland made significant strides in shot placement and created strokes to best utilize the holes in the field against a strong bowling attack that saw Lauren Bell get her maiden game of the tournament. However, it couldn’t compete with the incredibly smooth stroke play of Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Maia Bouchier.
