Scotland bounced back from their 46-run defeat at the start of their Tri-series with a dramatic tie in the Netherlands. [Scorecard]
Kyle Coetzer won the toss and elected to bat first on an overcast breezy afternoon in Deventer.
The captain and George Munsey got off to another flying start putting on 91 for the first wicket before Munsey was caught for 46 off 24 deliveries.
Coetzer struck a few more lusty blows to reach his half-century before Stuart Thompson took a good catch in the deep before he could inflict any more damage.
Calum MacLeod found the boundary with a cracking reverse-sweep as soon as he reached the crease with his side in a solid position at 133/2 with 5 overs to go.
The runs were slightly stemmed after Michael Leask was run out for 4, but Cross (18) and Berrington (4) gave MacLeod support as he ended on 46* to post 185/4 from their 20 overs.
Paul Stirling came out firing for Ireland to get them flying out of the blocks before Safyaan Sharif bowled James Shannon with a brilliant delivery to claim the Scots first wicket.
The in-form Andy Balbirnie then went when he looked to pull seamer Stuart Whittingham, only for Hamza Tahir to hold on to a catch that went high in the air.
The momentum in the chase continued as Simi Singh contributed 26 but was removed by a smart catch by Cross standing up to the stumps off Berrington.
Stirling (82) continued a sustained attack against the bowlers, until left-arm spinner Tahir claimed his first wicket for Scotland when he had the dangerman caught at gully.
The run rate was now at 10 per over, however, Gary Wilson and Kevin O’Brien kept the Ireland hopes alive. Wilson was finally undone by a beauty from Whittingham – a short ball which clipped the gloves on the way through to Cross.
Ireland needed 7 runs from the final over as Sharif and Coetzer discussed plans in the middle with the big-hitting Kevin O’Brien on strike.
From the first ball of the over O’Brien looked to go big down the ground but a terrific bit of work on the boundary from Dylan Budge managed to palm the ball up before falling over the boundary and then getting himself back inside the field of play to catch it inside the rope.
Ireland scrambled between the wickets as Sharif bowled an excellent four deliveries as Ireland now required 3 to win from the final ball.
A full delivery was pushed into the covers by Stuart Thompson and the batsmen hurried to run two to tie a dramatic encounter.
After the game Kyle Coetzer said, “We’ve been in another great tussle again today. We are a team that are learning fast and made good improvements after yesterday’s disappointment in what was a hard-fought game. We are looking forward to the final two games with everything to play for against the hosts.’
