The Battle of Sharjah was more Culloden than Bannockburn: England romped home as winners by 10 wickets in their World Cup match against Scotland on Sunday .
Almost as important as the win was the mammoth margin of victory: reaching their target within 10 overs means England now top Group B and have overtaken the net run rates of South Africa and West Indies, putting them in prime position to reach the semi-finals.
England still need to beat West Indies on Tuesday to guarantee qualification, but a defeat would mean net run rate will come into play, in what would then be a three-way fight for two semi-final spots.
After opting to bat, Scotland had put 109 for six on the board but England made short work of the target, motoring to a 66-run powerplay – the highest of the World Cup so far – with half-centuries for Maia Bouchier (62 in 34 balls) and Danni Wyatt-Hodge (51 in 26 balls).
Bouchier said the pair were unaware of the requirement to reach their target in 10 overs until the chase was well under way. “I didn’t know about it until Freya Kemp ran on and told us halfway through,” Bouchier said. “We just looked to be ruthless today and it came off really well.”
Bouchier has had a relatively quiet tournament so far, with scores of 23 and eight, but on Sunday her full repertoire of shots was on display. She got England started with three consecutive boundaries – a heave over fine leg, a precision cut backward of point and a sublime cover drive – and her team never looked back.
Her captain, Heather Knight, labelled the knock “pure class”, but Bouchier said the 40C heat made concentrating extremely difficult. “That was probably the toughest knock I’ve had for England,” she said.
Wyatt-Hodge, meanwhile, continued her recent rich run of form by clattering seven boundaries of her own, although her fifty came courtesy of a Scottish fielding error – a tidier throw from cover would have seen the back of Bouchier, but instead the pair ran two overthrows.
Bouchier was put down by Olivia Bell on 12, with the off-spinner shelling a caught-and-bowled chance. England added insult to injury by taking 18 runs off her next over, as they raced towards victory.
Scotland will return home from their first World Cup with four defeats from four matches and their captain, Kathryn Bryce, said: “It’s been a tough tournament for us, but it’s been a massive honour to be here.
“It’s always challenging the first time you play at a different stadium against different teams, on this stage as well. The girls are gradually getting used to that.”
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Sophie Ecclestone finished with two for 13, including the big scalp of Sarah Bryce, who had led the way in a wicketless powerplay for Scotland but failed to read Ecclestone’s arm ball, attempted a slog-sweep and was stumped for 27.
Ailsa Lister injected a bit of impetus into the innings – slogging Scotland’s first World Cup six over deep midwicket – but skied the ball to cover in the 15th over, handing the seamer Dani Gibson a scalp in her first over of the tournament.
From there Scotland lost another three wickets for 18 runs, including Kathryn Bryce, who reached 33 but missed a reverse sweep and was bowled by Charlie Dean. There was also an anticlimactic ending for Scotland’s most-capped player, Lorna Jack-Brown, who was playing her last match for Scotland after a 17‑year career: she was bowled by Lauren Bell for a three-ball duck.
Nat Sciver-Brunt failed to take the wicket of Katherine Fraser in the penultimate over after the ball brushed leg stump but did not dislodge the bails. Nonetheless, it was a quiet finish for the Scots, setting up the chance for England to win big.
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