Berrington century and Scotland bowlers ship knockout blow to UAE
Scotland 282 for 8 (Berrington 127, Watt 44*, Leask 41, Siddique 3-49) beat United Arab Emirates 171 (Waseem 36, Sharif 4-20, Sole 3-37) by 111 runs
A captain’s knock from Richie Berrington, adopted up by a medical bowling efficiency from the Scotland bowlers gave them a 111-run win over United Arab Emirates, thereby knocking the Asian facet out of qualification competition on Friday afternoon in Bulawayo.
Berrington walked in at 11 for two and was placed on the again foot when Scotland have been decreased to 48 for 4, however he fought by way of the rebuilding course of alongside his center order earlier than blossoming within the slog overs. His 136-ball 127 was a clinic in pacing an innings by way of a demanding scenario, hitting 9 fours and three sixes. His first century in 13 months set UAE a goal of stiff goal of 283.
UAE might by no means recuperate from Berrington’s batting blows. When they got here to bat, they have been jolted by Chris Sole‘s opening spell, additional jolting their problem in a must-win match. Muhammad Waseem, Basil Hameed and the decrease order supplied temporary resistances, however with the group’s highest particular person rating studying solely 36, they have been by no means in contact of the chase, and have been bowled out for 171 in 35.3 overs.
But UAE did begin the sport as the higher facet. After successful the toss, they dominated with the brand new ball. Junaid Siddique and Ali Naseer led the best way in Scotland going 4 down inside 15 overs, and their spinners strangled Scotland for a lot of the center overs.
But Berrington ensured he did not throw his wicket in the course of the tough interval, and alongside Michael Leask (41), Chris Greaves (22) and Mark Watt (44*), saved the scoreboard transferring. That ensured Scotland had mitigated the danger of being bowled out, which then gave them the liberty to go onerous within the last ten overs.
And, Berrington and Watt did simply that, dominating from the fortieth over. They upped the tempo within the final 5, scoring 63 runs within the final 30 deliveries. Their 66-ball partnership of 109 for the eighth wicket took Scotland from hoping for a goal of 220 to finally ending on 282 for 8. Scotland didn’t lose a single wicket within the final ten overs, with solely an unselfish try at a second run within the innings’ last supply bringing UAE a late wicket.
UAE’s begin to the chase was promising for the primary 4 overs, and Waseem threatened to repeat what his reverse quantity did. The veteran opener misplaced 4 companions inside 16 overs, however whereas he was there, UAE had hope. However, that was dashed when he was the fifth man gone – lbw by Watt – for 36, leaving UAE reeling at 82 for five.
Basil Hameed (30), Aayan Afzal Khan (21) and Karthik Meiyappan (23*) briefly thwarted the Scottish problem however the common lack of UAE wickets meant they have been entertaining however nonetheless fairly far-off from the 283 goal. When Safyaan Sharif returned for his second spell, he cleaned up the resistance with three lower-order wickets, ending with 4 for 20 on the again of that burst.
Scotland now be part of Sri Lanka and Oman on 4 factors in Group B, realistically needing only one extra win within the final two video games to be assured of qualification. For UAE, their hope of taking part in in India on the ODI World Cup ended, and now play for delight of their last fixture in opposition to Ireland.