Friday evening saw a hastily arranged match take place at New Williamfield (Stirling County CC) – one which was a great opportunity, as the Warriors faced the Scotland Women’s squad.  The match acted as a warm-up for both sides – the Warriors in advance of their Inter-Regional T20 Day and for Scotland as they prepare for the World Cup qualifying tournament.

Batting first, the Warriors posted 132/5 off their 20 overs.  The top six all reached double figures – but no one could go on to convert into a bigger innings.  While there was busy intent, as 79 of the 121 deliveries bowled were scored off of, the Warriors struggled to find the boundary (only 8 fours) against a disciplined bowling line-up which was well-backed in the field.  In contrast, Scotland struck 6 boundaries (fours) during their 6-over powerplay, as they raced to 55/1 – as compared to Warriors who had been 24/1 at the comparable stage.  Another key difference was extras – Scotland conceded just 12, whereas the Warriors gifted 24 (including 22 in wides…and 21 different wide deliveries!).  Given this, and being up against a well-balanced opposition, it was unsurprising that Scotland chased their target with 15 deliveries to spare.

However, there were some real positives for the Warriors: Uzair Ahmad (Ferguslie CC) scored 26, with Rory Paterson and Nasratullah Safi (both Glasgow Accies CC) both scoring 23 and Ali Khan (Clydesdale CC) finishing 20*, Shlok Thaker (Clydesdale CC) struck with the new ball, Robbie Walsh (Ayr CC), Ollie Jones (Stirling County CC) and Ahmad all picked up wickets in the middle overs – and Ewan McCartney (Helensburgh CC) and Safi took very good catches.

While the ultimate result was a loss, the fixture presented a valuable chance to get some match-play prior to the Inter-Regional competition.  This Sunday will also provide another great opportunity as two ‘intra-squad’ T20s, featuring 24 players from 11 different clubs, will take place at Titwood (Clydesdale CC).