Scots defeat UAE and survive in the top- six
Scotland, 299 for seven, defeated the UAE, 177 all out, by 122 runs in the final Super Eights match of the WCQ09 tournament at Willowmoore Park, Benoni.
For Scotland, this was the Last Chance Saloon. Lose to UAE, and the nation loses its ODI status, some £2 million of ICC funding over the next four years, and a major recession in the sport north of the Border. Only victory would do; it might not be enough to salvage participation in the World Cup of 2011, but it was absolutely essential that Scotland recorded one last Super Eights win.
And so, with some nervousness and trepidation, Ryan Watson won his second toss on the trot and decided - as he had to - to bat first, in order to have a chance of increasing Scotland’s net run rate, which would determine which teams finished in the top-four.
Gavin Hamilton and Navdeep Poonia opened for Scotland in this vital match, knowing that at Benoni the pitch needs 10 overs to settle down from the autumn morning dew. In the third over, Poonia hooked for two; in the fifth, he scored a fine boundary, then went for another hook (left); the ball dented his visor and impacted on his eyebrow. Bleeding profusely, he was taken to hospital for treatment and stitches.
Hamilton, meanwhile, set up a promising partnership with Kyle Coetzer, always seeking the singles, yet always alert to boundary opportunities. By the 24th over, they had taken the score to 96-1 when Hamilton sent Coetzer back; he appeared to have made his ground with a dive, but was given out, to his clear distress, having made 33.
McCallum came in at No 4 and quickly established a fresh partnership with Hamilton; the former used the sweep to good effect, while the latter indulged successfully in the reverse sweep on several occasions. The 50 partnership came in 64 balls and the UAE introduced their ninth bowler in the 38th over, only for McCallum to sweep him for four, then smash the first six of the innings.
McCallum reached his personal half-century in 55 balls, also bringing up the century partnership at the start of the batting power play, but perished on 54, caught behind after slashing at the ball.
Hamilton released himself from inhibition after reaching three figures (left) in the following (43rd over), and was finally out playing on for 127 from 124 balls, including 10 fours and three sixes, in the 46th over. It was an outstanding innings, leading from the front, and judging the acceleration to perfection.
Although Watson, Colin Smith and Jan Stander didn’t last long, the momentum was maintained by a bright cameo 13-ball innings from Craig Wright, who smashed 25, including four fours and a six that put the icing on the Scottish batting cake.
When the UAE went in to bat, they quickly found John Blain and Dewald Nel difficult to handle, and no amount of swishing at the ball came close to connecting. So they settled for the example set by Scotland in their earlier overs - singles - but at the same time failed to keep the ball on the ground.
Superb catches by Hamilton, Calum MacLeod, Blain and Coetzer brought a bonanza of wickets for Wright, who finished with 4-41 from his ten overs.
The UAE were 114 for five at the half-way point, but lost two more wickets soon after, and Scotland finally finished them off within the space of five overs, achieving victory with ten full overs to spare.
Hamilton was, of course, the Man of the Match, but this was essentially the kind of team victory that had persistently eluded the Scots in earlier matches in this tournament, alert in the field, and aware of the importance of winning - for the future of Scottish cricket.
Scotland finished in fifth place in the Super Eights table - one more victory earlier in the week would have enabled qualification for the World Cup. As it was, the four that will compete in the sub-continent in 2011 are Ireland, Canada, Kenya and the Netherlands.
The Scots will play Afghanistan again on Sunday at Willowmoore Park, Benoni, for the fifth/sixth place ranking positions. And Afghanistan - which has no grass pitches or cricketing infrastructure as we would understand the term - will join the top-six Associate level countries who are generously endowed by the ICC’s High Performance programme to develop the game at the elite level.
Who says winning is unimportant?
Report by Mike Stanger
Pictures by Ian Jacobs
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