Scotland earn maiden ICC Women’s T20 World Cup berth after Bryce sisters’ heroics | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Scotland’s women’s cricket team captain Kathryn Bryce was overwhelmed with emotions after her team secured a spot in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup for the first time.
Scotland achieved this feat by defeating Ireland by eight wickets in the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier event in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, joining Sri Lanka as the two teams to qualify for the main event in Bangladesh in October.

Bryce’s journey to this moment has been long and arduous, having come close to qualifying in previous campaigns in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2022. She was just 18 years old when she played her first qualifier in Thailand in 2015, where Scotland narrowly missed out on a spot in the 2016 T20 World Cup after losing to Ireland in the semi-finals.

“There have been so many people playing before us and so many different people playing at that first qualifier we played at in Thailand. We have had a couple of good Qualifiers, but when we made it to the semi-finals (in 2015 and 2018) there was not much chance of us getting through,” Bryce said as quoted by ICC
“It has been a tough day or so thinking about it knowing you can get there as we have the squad to do it and it almost makes it a bit harder to keep the emotions in check and to get through,” Bryce added.
The victory was particularly special for Bryce, who has played most of her international career alongside her younger sister Sarah. The duo were unbeaten at the crease when Kathryn hit the winning runs off Ireland spinner Eimear Richardson in the 17th over of the crucial match.

Sarah reflected on the long journey, saying, “It is crazy to think we had our first Qualifier back in 2015 for each of us and the first one for Scotland was in 2008. Scotland was created as a women’s team in 2000 and here we are in 2024 finally having gotten over the line.”
“And I think I saw on Twitter (X) that we are only the 12th women’s team to make it to the T20 World Cup it is just unbelievable. What a journey it has been. I feel so lucky to have done it alongside you as my sister. To experience many lows and finally have a crazy massive high,” Sarah added.
Despite achieving their goal of qualifying for the T20 World Cup, Scotland still have the opportunity to end the Qualifier tournament on a high note by defeating Sri Lanka in the final on Tuesday. Sri Lanka had previously defeated Scotland by 10 wickets during the group stages, and Kathryn acknowledges that her team must put the emotions of qualifying behind them and focus on finishing the Qualifier in style.
(Inputs from ANI)