Scotland Women put on a dominant display in Stirling during the 2nd ODI of the Netherlands Women tour of Scotland, cruising to a comfortable 9-wicket victory with 94 balls remaining in a match reduced to 32 overs per side.
Taking the field first, Scotland’s bowling attack immediately set the tone by putting pressure on the Dutch opening pair. Darcey Carter delivered a lethal opening spell, striking twice to dismiss Phebe Molkenboer for 8 (16 balls) and Sanya Khurana for 4 (11 balls), leaving Netherlands in early trouble at 13/2 in the 5th over. Ammy Baldie supported tightly from the other end, conceding 24 runs in her 6 overs without a wicket, while Maisie Maceira chipped in by taking 1/37 in her 6-over spell.
Skipper Babette de Leede attempted to rebuild the innings for Netherlands Women, showcasing grit as she held one end together. She initially found brief support from Merel Dekeling, who scored 12 off 19 balls before falling to Abtaha Maqsood.
Maqsood’s introduction proved decisive as she ripped through the middle order, bowling Rosalie Ann Lawrence for a duck right after Dekeling’s dismissal, leaving the Dutch at 39/4. Iris Zwilling could only manage 5 runs off 12 balls before edge-catching behind to Sarah Bryce off Maqsood. Maqsood finished with exceptional figures of 3/20 from 7 overs (1 maiden), while Katherine Fraser maintained tight control, finishing with 1/29 in 7 overs after removing Caroline de Lange for a hard-fought 20 off 50 balls.
A flurry of late wickets saw Hannah Landheer clean-bowled by Maisie Maceira for 1, followed quickly by a run-out of Myrthe van den Raad for 1 by Maqsood. de Leede’s valiant captain’s knock finally came to an end when she was run out for a top-scoring 58 off 64 balls (4 fours). Tailenders Lara Leemhuis (4* off 7) and Silver Siegers (9* off 7) pushed the total, aided by 7 extras, bringing the Netherlands Women innings to a close at 129/9 in their allotted 32 overs.
Chasing a target of 130, Scotland Women got off to a quick, aggressive start. Maryam Faisal hit two quick boundaries to reach 8 off 4 balls before falling bowled to Myrthe van den Raad in the 2nd over with the score at 17/1. van den Raad ended up as the sole wicket-taker for the Dutch, finishing with 1/21 in 2 overs.
From that point onward, it was smooth sailing for the hosts as Darcey Carter and captain Sarah Bryce put on an unbeaten, match-winning partnership of 113 runs for the second wicket. Bryce led from the front with a blistering half-century, scoring 70* off 59 balls with 11 boundaries. Carter complemented her brilliantly, anchoring the chase with an unbeaten 33 off 37 balls (3 fours).
The Netherlands bowling attack found no answers against the fluent strokeplay of the Scottish batters. Lara Leemhuis gave away 24 runs in 3 overs, Sanya Khurana conceded 18 runs in 3 overs, Hannah Landheer went for 7 in her single over, Caroline de Lange gave up 22 in 3.2 overs, and Silver Siegers was taken for 38 in 4 overs. Scotland capitalised on 19 extras to reach 130/1 in just 16.2 overs, sealing a commanding 9-wicket victory.
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