Nayma Shaikh of East Kilbride Cricket Club has flown out to South Africa with the Scotland squad for the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup – and she will create a little bit of history in the process this weekend.
The team are competing in the inaugural event and they will become the first-ever Scottish women’s side to take part in a World Cup event.
Sixteen-year-old Nayma is the daughter of senior cricketer Moon Mughis Shaikh and her proud mum is bursting with joy after watching Namya set off for the big occasion last week.
Moon told the News: “Nayma is very excited and really looking forward to this World Cup – so much so that she wants to leave her mark by becoming the player of the tournament.
“As a mother I am already proud of Nayma. Being a cricketer myself I know that making it to the World Cup is a big achievement already.
“We will be cheering her throughout her World Cup and will be praying that she achieves her goals."
Scotland qualified for the tournament in August after travelling to the Netherlands for a best of three play-off for the final place in the competition.
They won all three matches convincingly which will give them confidence going into their biggest-ever tournament.
The opposition will be much stronger at the World Cup and their group for the first stage of the tournament includes the host nation, India and the United Arab Emirates. The opening match on Saturday will be against the UAE and that will be a crucial match and the best chance of a victory, which could give the chance to progress to the next stage.
India and South Africa are both massive cricketing nations and will be the toughest opposition Scotland have ever faced at this level.
Nayma started playing cricket in 2018 and was selected for the Western Warriors under-16 girls squad at the age of 12 in 2019.
That same year, Moon and Nayma were part of The West representative team that won the Beyond Boundaries Women’s T20 Scottish Cup Final in Stirling and the pair have helped out with coaching at EKCC in recent years.
East Kilbride Cricket Club junior convenor, Steve Newman, said: “Nayma is a true all-rounder so will have an important part to play with bat and ball.
“She was one of the leading bowlers in the playoffs against Netherlands, while only being 16. Despite her age, she’s already had a successful career.
“As well as being East Kilbride’s top junior for a number of years, she’s won a Scottish T20 Vitality Cup with West of Scotland Ladies and has been involved with the Scottish Squad for two seasons.”
Scotland head coach, Peter Ross, said: “The team have the privilege of being the first Scottish female cricket squad to ever participate in a World Cup and that is something which they can be proud of forever.
“It is scheduled to be a brilliant tournament that will provide a number of opportunities for these players to learn more about themselves as people and as developing cricketers.”
Sixteen teams will participate in the World Cup and Scotland will kick off their first Group D match against UAE tomorrow at Willowmoore Park in Benoni at 10am (GMT). They then play South Africa on Monday at 11.45am and finish the group against India on Wednesday, January 18 at 11.45am.
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