Ireland finish in style with a thumping nine-wicket victory over Scotland

Gaby Lewis' unbeaten 65 and Lara Maritz spell of 3 for 4 starred with bat and ball respectively to help Ireland to an easy victory against Scotland. They romped home by nine wickets with 41 balls to spare Sportpark Het Schootsveld in Denventer on Wednesday (August 14)  in the 11th match of the Women's T20I Quandragular Series.

Lewis, the phenomena, continued her stellar run as she notched up her second fifty in the tournament, thereby proving some bright things for Ireland. What would have pleased the management the most is that she was there till the end and ensured that there were no hiccups in a 127 run- chase. Scotland only had one wicket to show for their efforts as the bowlers had to face the wrath of Lewis and Kim Garth.

It was the other opener, Rebecca Stokell, who started things off in style for Ireland. However, after a breezy cameo of 10, she was dismissed by Katie McGill. After her dismissal, Lewis took control of proceedings and carted Scotland bowlers all around the park. There was no respite for any bowler whatsoever as  Ireland finished the power play at 56 for 1.

If Scotland thought the end of field restrictions would give them a chance to come back into the game, those thoughts were quashed by Lewis, who was not ready to take the foot of the pedal. Garth started slowly but gained in confidence as the partnership flourished. She remained unbeaten on 47 of just 33 balls. The duo shared an unbroken stand of 113 in just 10.5 overs - a partnership that saw them sail through to 130 for 1 in 13.1 overs.

Having a winning momentum with them, Scotland won the toss and elected to bat. They got off to good start courtesy a 56-run stand between Sarah Bryce and Lorna Jack. The pair mixed caution with aggression through their 7.5 over association. Bryce was the more attacking of the two as she took a special liking to Eimear Richardson, carting her for 12 runs in five deliveries. Jack, on the other hand, was happy to take singles and give her partner the strike.

Just when things were going smoothly for Scotland panic struck and they lost their way. From 56 for 1 they collapsed to 89 for 5. Jack was the first one to go as Laura Delany trapped her in front for 17. Bryce was looking set for fifty but fell just one short of a landmark as Celeste Raack dismissed her.

Thereafter it was a procession of wickets as Scotland completely lost momentum. Lara Maritz was the one caused the most damage. The match drastically swung in favour of Ireland as Maritz picked up two wickets in two balls - Ellen Watson and Ruth Willis - in the 13th over to put her team in the ascendency. Overs nine to 14 yielded just 17 runs for Scotland, and to make matters worse they also lost five wickets.

Numbers four, five and six could only muster fives runs between them and in the end that proved to be the difference between winning and losing.

All the hard work done by the opening batters was gone to waste as Scotland could only manage 126 for 7 in the end.

Maritz was undoubtedly the pick of the bowlers as she finished with figures 3 for 4 in just the three overs.

 

Brief Scores: Scotland 126/7 in 20 overs (Sarah Bryce 49; Lara Maritz 3-4) lost to Ireland 130/1 in 13.1 overs (Gaby Lewis 65*, Kim Garth 47*) by nine wickets.