Leask 91* trumps Campher 120 to provide Scotland an inconceivable win
Scotland 289 for 9 (Leask 91*, McBride 56, Adair 3-57) beat Ireland 286 for 8 (Campher 120, Dockrell 69, McMullen 5-34) by one wicket
Curtis Campher produced a powerful hundred to haul Ireland again from the brink but it surely was not sufficient as Michael Leask masterminded an unimaginable heist to information Scotland to a tense one-wicket victory on the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
Set 287 for a win, Scotland started in sprightly style, scoring 56 for the lack of only one wicket within the powerplay. But quickly they have been struggling at 122 for six as, barring Christopher McBride, none of their prime six reached 20.
Chris Greaves, Mark Watt and Leask, although, stored the sport alive. Leask stitched a 30-run partnership with Greaves earlier than including 82 off simply 67 balls with Watt. The latter’s 43-ball 47 took the stress off Leask and wrested the momentum again from Ireland. Watt fell within the forty sixth over however Leask stored discovering the fence often and introduced the equation right down to 16 required from 12 balls.
The penultimate over, bowled by Josh Little, went for eight runs. With eight wanted from the ultimate over, Leask – helped by Harry Tector’s misfield on the long-on – hit a boundary off Mark Adair on the primary ball. However, Safyaan Sharif was dismissed off the third ball after which Chris Sole performed out a dot, earlier than Leask scampered by way of for a bye on the fifth. With two wanted off the ultimate ball, Leask swung onerous and received a thick inside edge that beat the wicketkeeper and despatched the Scotland gamers into an absolute frenzy.
Earlier within the day, a searing opening spell from Brandon McMullen decreased Ireland to 33 for 4. Paul Stirling was the primary to depart, nicking one to first slip earlier than McMullen trapped Balbirnie for a first-ball duck with a nip-backer. Tector denied him a hat-trick however might do nothing about one other wonderful outswinger within the fifth over, edging it to second slip.
Lorcan Tucker sought to counter-punch however, after a reprieve within the sixth over, fell to Watt within the ninth over. Campher, who didn’t play in opposition to Oman, discovered an in a position ally in George Dockrell. The latter didn’t look very comfy at the beginning, particularly in opposition to the tempo of Sole, however stayed within the center lengthy sufficient to capitalise.
From over 11 to 40, Ireland not solely scored 145 however misplaced only one extra wicket. That basis enabled them to ransack 107 within the final ten to get to 286, a complete that seemed adequate till Leask and Watt received collectively.
This was not a spotless Scotland show, nevertheless. Their decision-making, at occasions, was questionable. McMullen, who picked up three wickets within the powerplay, didn’t bowl within the center overs in any respect. When he returned, he bagged two extra to finish his five-wicket haul. He was then taken out of the assault for the final over of the innings, wherein Scotland ended up conceding 18. Their bowlers gave away 18 wides, and their fielders put down three probabilities – the most costly being of Dockrell when he was on 4.