CRAIG WALLACE PROUD OF 'BRILLIANT CRICKET' FROM SCOTS

Scotland Head Coach Craig Wallace hailed the 'brilliant cricket' played by his side throughout their successful ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifying campaign.

 

The Scots sealed their qualification with a 41-run victory over the USA, after posting 178-8 - and it was the approach that Scotland took with the bat across the tournament that pleased Wallace.

 

Wallace said: "I'm so pleased with the standard of cricket we’ve been playing. The Netherlands game didn’t go our way, but in parts we played really well, and then in the other four games before Bangladesh, we genuinely played just brilliant cricket in terms of the standard and quality. 

 

“Especially with the bat, we’ve changed the way we wanted to play. I think previously we batted a bit slower looking to keep wickets in hand and target the end, but now we’re trying to be way more attacking up top, and score more boundaries. Katherine Fraser and Darcey (Carter) did that brilliantly against the USA - scoring 75 in the powerplay is the way we want to be playing."

 

 

Sunday's victory over the USA also saw a number of players impact the game with their most significant performance of the competition - Darcey Carter (52), Ailsa Lister (43) and Chloe Abel (2-16) in particular stepping up.

 

“The most pleasing thing about the final game was that Darcey Carter, Ailsa Lister and Chloe Abel, who hadn’t done overly much in this tournament, really stepped up in such a big game.

 

"They really believed in themselves after a tournament when they didn’t contribute as much as they might have liked, but then in the big game they did.

 

“It's very Scottish (to take it to the final game), but then not so Scottish to actually play well under pressure so that was great to see. To play that well in a big game, especially the way we started, was just amazing."

 

Scotland's reward for qualifying is a World Cup in England - which, with Scotland having last played on these shores in 2022, is extra special.

 

Wallace added: “Especially for the girls, the last time they played in Scotland was so long ago, it’s actually going to feel like a home World Cup for so many of them. 

 

"They can have friends and families watching them represent their country, which for me is the biggest thing. They get to play in a World Cup with their friends and families getting to watch, which is amazing."