Scotland Women's captain Kathryn Bryce put on one of the best all-round performances ever produced against USA Women, following up a first innings unbeaten half-century with career-best T20I figures of 4 for 17 to lead a 44-run rout of USA in Group A action at the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier. 

Photo Credit: Francois Nel/ICC/Getty Images

By Peter Della Penna in Abu Dhabi (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
 
Scotland Women’s captain Kathryn Bryce gave a healthy reminder to everyone watching at Tolerance Oval and as well as on the global broadcast why she was named ICC Women’s Associate Player of the Decade for the 2010s as she followed up an unbeaten half-century with a four-wicket burst during USA’s Powerplay to wreck their chase before it ever had a chance to get going as Scotland eventually downed the Americans by 44 runs on day three of Group A play at the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi on Monday. 

USA won the toss and sent Scotland in to bat as both sides made one change to their XI from their previous matches in the group stage. Scotland dropped Darcey Carter in favor of Megan McColl while USA handed a debut cap to 15-year-old legspinner Saanvi Immadi, who came in for Ritu Singh. 

 
USA’s decision to field first looked like it had some justification as they restricted Scotland to 32 for 2 in the Powerplay. McColl lasted five balls before her attempted ramp shot to Geetika Kodali caromed off her shoulder and popped up for Sindhu Sriharsha to pouch a simple catch for 3. Isani Vaghela dismissed opener Saskia Horley with an inswinger to defeat an attempted leg side flick and rattle the stumps for 8 to make it 17 for 2 in the fourth. Sarah Bryce made just 4, slicing Aditi Chudasama’s offspin to Jivana Aras at short third in the eighth to make it 38 for 3. 
 
But for the second match in a row, USA’s played cautiously against spin before feasting on the majority of USA’s pace options. To make matters worse for the pacers, USA spilled three chances during a four-over sequence from the 10^th to the 13^th in which Scotland plundered 49 runs off of Jessica Willathgamuwa, Suhani Thadani and Aras. Willathgamuwa created two chances in the 10^th, both off of Ailsa Lister, but neither of which could be converted. The first came on 12 when a lofted drive to long-off was spilled over the rope for four by Chudasama, who appeared to shorten her stride as she approached the ball while seemingly fearful of a possible collision with Thadani coming over from long-on. Two balls later, Anika Kolan settled under a straightforward chance at deep midwicket only for it to burst through her hands reaching above her head and similarly bounce over the rope for another boundary. 
 
After Kathryn Bryce scooped Thadani through fine leg for four in the 11^th and did so again to Willathgamuwa in the 12^th, Thadani dropped the last ball of the over at extra cover when Lister was on 26. More salt was rubbed into the wound in the 13^th when Lister launched Aras back over her head and past Vaghela at long-off for six. Lister’s carnage was finally halted for 34 when spin was reintroduced in the 14^th as her charge at Chudasama was undone by a ball darted in wider outside off to result in a stumping to end a 66-run stand making it 104 for 4. 
 
Lorna Jack joined captain Bryce for the next phase of play and Bryce wound up bringing up her half-century off 42 balls with yet another ramped shot off Kodali through fine leg to the boundary in the 17^th over. Jack struck a boundary each in the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th and survived a missed runout chance in the 18^th when Gargi Bhogle fired wide of Vaghela standing at the bowler’s end with Jack well out of her crease on 17. Another missed runout came in the 19^th when Immadi did not get back to the bowler’s stumps in time to collect a relay from Sriharsha. Immadi should have had Bryce for 55 as a stone dead lbw shout off a missed reverse sweep was denied, but the teenage debutant finally got a deserved wicket later in the over when Jack’s dance down the wicket resulted in a fanned drive and stumping for 20. Vaghela returned at the death to bowl Katherine Fraser for 3 after a missed heave across the line. A pair of twos by Priyanaz Chatterji off the final two balls of the innings took Scotland to 149 for 6 with Kathryn Bryce ending up unbeaten on 57 off 51 balls with eight fours. 
 
Vaghela bowled tidily to finish with 2 for 17 in four overs. Chudasama was impressive in her 2 for 25 off four while Immadi was arguably the most consistently threatening USA bowler ending with 1 for 21 in her four overs. Kodali took 1 for 21 in three while Willathgamuwa was luckless in returning 0 for 21 in two overs as a result of three dropped chances, two of which turned into boundaries. Thadani ended with 0 for 19 in two while Aras conceded 13 in her only over. 
 
After a strong finishing knock against Uganda, Bhogle was promoted to open the batting in an effort to kickstart the top of the order following a prolonged malaise in the Powerplay throughout the tour. But the move failed to pay off as Bhogle’s aggressive drive on the first ball of the chase wound up being sliced to backward point for Jack to claim a catch. It wound up being the tip of the iceberg for Kathryn Bryce’s devastating new-ball spell. 
 
Disha Dhingra lasted two balls before she was castled driving at a sharp hooping inswinger from Bryce in the third. Sriharsha tried a different tactic attempting to smother the sharp inswing but didn’t get her front pad outside the line of off stump and was given lbw for a second-ball duck to make it 6 for 3 in the third. Kolan, who had survived a missed runout chance by Abtaha Maqsood at mid-off on 1, was also beaten through the gate by extravagant inswing from Bryce to be bowled for 3 in the 5^th as USA’s chase was effectively derailed by Bryce not long after leaving the station with the score at 22 for 4 in the fifth. 
 
Willathgamuwa was stumped for 10 running past a stock legbreak from Maqsood to make it 42 for 5. In her first T20I innings for USA, Chudasama made a run a ball 20 after entering at No. 5 before she fell in the 10^th, driving Fraser’s offspin gently to Kathryn Bryce who claimed a simple catch 15 yards in from the rope at long-off. Kodali fell for 3 in the 11^th driving Maqsood to Fraser, who held onto a sharp low catch lunging forward at extra cover to make it 50 for 7. 
 
USA had been bowled out for 51 the last time these two sides met at the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in 2022, but the tail wagged to bring some respectability to the USA innings scorecard. Vaghela and Aras reprised their partnership for Western Conference at the 2021 USA Cricket Women’s National Championship in Florida as the pair produced USA’s biggest partnership of the day, adding 39 for the eighth wicket. Vaghela struck two fours down the ground but eventually fell for 30 off 26 balls attempting to do it for a third time as a drive off Chloe Abel failed to clear Maqsood at mid-off in the 18^th.
 
Aras drove two boundaries off Chatterji’s medium pace in the 19^th and ended up on 24 not out off 30 balls while Thadani survived a missed runout chance by Abel in the final over to finish on 2 not out off 5 balls as USA eventually reached 105 for 8 in their 20 overs. 
 
Kathryn Bryce conceded a pair of boundaries to Chudasama in her final over in the eighth to soften her final figures yet still ended with a T20I career-best haul of 4 for 17. Maqsood claimed 2 for 16 in three while Fraser claimed 1 for 10 in three overs and Abel 1 for 14 in two. Rachel Slater (0 for 22 in four) and Chatterji (0 for 24 in four) went wicketless on the day.
 
In the day’s other match in Group A, Thailand bowled out Uganda for 62 before chasing down the runs in just 11.3 overs to complete a nine-wicket win for their first points of the tournament. 
 
USA has an off day on Tuesday before returning to action on Wednesday against Thailand. The two sides will square off in Zayed Cricket Stadium for a 7:30 pm local time start, 11:30 am ET in the USA.