In the other match, Diana Baig set up Pakistan’s win against Ireland
Firdose Moonda09-Apr-2025Scotland pulled off the first upset of the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers by denying Hayley Matthews, who single-handedly kept West Indies in the game despite leaving the field twice with severe cramps, and beating the side by 11 runs.Matthews became only the fourth player to take four wickets and score a century in an ODI but West Indies’ over-reliance on her cost them. She took four of the first five Scotland wickets and forced herself to return to the crease twice – once off a stretcher to keep batting when West Indies were nine wickets down – but it was not enough. Scotland were the side that rallied around Sarah Bryce’s 55 (off 56 balls) and her 82-run fifth wicket stand with Megan McColl and then their spinners. Offpinners Katherine Fraser and Darcy Carter and legspinner Abtaha Maqsood took six wickets between them to defend 244 and get their first points on the board.Temperatures were close to 40 degrees Celcius with humidity at around 60% and conditions took their toll across both games in Lahore. West Indies used cooling collars made of ice packs during drinks breaks, Scotland took shelter under umbrellas and Ireland’s Gaby Lewis received treatment on field three times for cramps during her 96 minutes of batting against hosts Pakistan.Related
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West Indies chose to bowl first on a green top at the LCCA Ground but Scotland were up to the task. Abbi Aitken-Drummond and Carter put on 48 inside 12 overs, in an innings laced with three boundaries each. Matthews brought herself on in the 12th over and had Aitken-Drummond and Kathryn Bryce caught behind in successive overs and Carter dismissed in her third and suddenly, Scotland were 69 for 3. When Chinelle Henry’s direct hit ran out Ailsa Lister West Indies finally looked like they had another player on the field and could run through Scotland.Sarah Bryce held the innings together but when she edged to slip, Scotland went into freefall. They lost 6 for 62 and were bowled out in 45 overs, as both Aaliyah Alleynne and Karishma Ramharack took two wickets each.The chase started poorly when Qiana Joseph gifted a caught-and-bowled to Carter. Zaida James was in at No.3 in the second over. She batted slowly but carefully and shared a 113-run stand with Matthews, which put West Indies well on track. They were 120 for 2 in the 27th over when James tried to hit Chloe Abel over fine leg but found the fielder at 45 and then chaos ensued.West Indies lost Shemaine Campbell, Stafanie Taylor and Henry in the space of 23 deliveries and of those, Taylor’s run-out was key but the required run-rate still manageable. West Indies needed 53 runs off 72 balls and Matthews was still batting, but only just.When Shabika Gajnabi was caught behind, Mathews was on 95 and hobbling. Cherry-Ann Fraser was out in the next over and it was clear Matthews was forcing herself to keep going but couldn’t. She left the field. Afy Fletcher lasted six balls and was dismissed for duck so Matthews came back on and hit four off the next ball she faced. She was on 99 and running out of partners. She fell to the ground wailing and then was stretchered off the field.Ramharack gave Fraser another caught and bowled to leave West Indies nine down when Matthews rolled herself off the stretcher and returned to bat. She brought a century and kept West Indies in the hunt but Alleynne couldn’t stay with her. She was out lbw in the 47th over, with West Indies 11 runs short. They have a day’s break before playing Ireland on Friday.File photo: Diana Baig picked up four wickets•Getty Images
In the day’s other match, hosts Pakistan had their bowlers, led by senior seamer Diana Baig, to thank for securing them a 38 run win over Ireland. Pakistan trudged through their innings to score 217 and Ireland were bossing the chase on 96 for 1 in side 24 overs. Left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu took three wickets in four overs to leave Ireland’s middle-order exposed before Baig took care of the tail. She finished with figures of 4 for 35 in her first appearance for the team since their opening match of last year’s T20 World Cup and got Pakistan’s campaign off to a winning start.Ireland will have the same amount of recovery time – physically and emotionally – after believing they had done enough against Pakistan. Jane Maguire removed Gull Feroza early and Sidra Amin found run-scoring tough which meant the dot ball mounted up. Muneeba Ali tried to keep the scoreboard moving but Pakistan were 79 for 1 after 20 overs and going nowhere. Sidra was on 29 off 61 balls. Muneeba fell trying to get things going and was replaced by Aliya Riaz.Aliya showed more initiative and was scoring at a run-a-ball when Amin finally got to 50 off 110 balls and was then dismissed at the end of the 36th over. Pakistan were 153 for 3 after 36 overs and a score over 200 looked some distance away. Natalia Pervaiz came in ahead of captain Fatima Sana but was runmout for 12, by which time Aliya was also dismissed. Pakistan did not have the batters for a last ten-over push and lost 6 wickets for 42 runs from Aliya’s dismissal. They were bowled out with an over to spare for 217.That total didn’t look enough despite Baig’s new-ball breakthrough. She had Sarah Forbes given out lbw in the ninth over but a 69-run second wicket stand between Lewis and Amy Hunter started to take the game away. Ireland were 96 for 1 when Sandhu trapped Lewis on the back pad and dragged Pakistan into the game. Both Hunter and Delany played on, leaving Ireland 119 for 4 and Pakistan had the opportunity to burst through.Sadia Iqbal got rid of Leah Paul before Baig was brought back and removed Christina Coulter Reilly, Louise Little and Arelen Kelley in three overs. Cara Murray’s run-out confirmed Pakistan’s win. They will take on Scotland on Friday.