Netherlands defeats Scotland in a last over thriller

On the opening day of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Europe Region Qualifier at Cartagena, Scotland squared off in their second match of the day against the Netherlands. This time around, they were defeated by a narrow margin of seven runs.

Having won the toss, Scotland elected to field first. Sent in to bat, Netherlands' openers laid down a solid foundation for their sides' innings with an opening partnership of 47. This was broken by Priyanaz Chatterji, who bowled Heather Siegers for 25. A few overs later, Sterre Kallis was sent back to the dugout too, for 24. Debutant Denise van Deventer then anchored the innings as wickets fell around her. She top-scored with a 33-ball 35, while those who proceeded her failed to cross the 15-run mark. Largely due to the contribution of the top-order, Netherlands posted 123-8 on the board.

After Chatterji's wicket, Rachel Scholes, debutant Samantha Haggo and Katie McGill tore through Netherlands' line-up, claiming two scalps each.

In their response, Scotland's top-order stumbled again, with both Kathryn Bryce and Lorna Jack being dismissed cheaply once more. Their wickets triggered a collapse as Scotland fell from 32-0 to 81-5. Wickets continued to tumble, while Chatterji kept her sides hopes alive with a valiant innings. She scored an unbeaten run-a-ball 26 in an effort to get her side over the line. While her knock did bring Scotland close to the total, they fell just eight runs short of the target. Scotland required 25 runs off the final two overs and were staring down the barrel of defeat. However, when the penultimate over went for 12 runs, they started to believe again. But, the heroics of the previous over could not be replicated in the last one, as only five runs were scored and two wickets fell.

H. Siegers proved to trouble Scotland with the ball too, claiming two scalps, while Sterre Kallis and debutants Hannah Landheer and Caroline de Lange took a wicket each.

Scotland and Netherlands both have two points now. The former has only two matches remaining as the three-team tournament follows the double round-robin format, while Germany and Netherlands each have three matches remaining.