Scotland’s tour of the USA ended in a defeat to the UAE in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series in Pearland, Texas, on Friday.
The Scots went into the game hot on the heels of the news that skipper Kyle Coetzer is stepping down from the role ahead of home matches to come this summer.
His team mates were determined to make it a winning send off, but it was not to be as the UAE gained revenge for being beaten by the Scots on Tuesday.
In the end 171 played 172-5 and Richie Berrington said: “It was disappointing to end this series of games with a loss especially with it being Kyle’s final game as captain.
“I think we know that if we had got another 60 runs in these conditions then we would have been in a much stronger position at the halfway stage and, in turn, we could have put the UAE under more pressure in the second half.
“Unfortunately, we made a few mistakes with the bat and that cost us.
“It was great to see young Olly Davidson making his debut and he showed great maturity out there on the pitch. I am sure he has learnt a lot on this trip and he has a bright future ahead of him.
“In general, there have been a lot of positives to take from the tour, but we were frustrated not to get the win here and we will have learnt a lot from playing in the conditions that we have been for the last couple of weeks.
“There is a lot for us to take forward and we are excited to now play some home matches soon.
“On Kyle and his decision to step back from the captaincy, he has been a fantastic leader for Scottish cricket and he has been influential in moving this team forward to where we are now, not only because of the way he plays he game, but also because of the type of person he is on and off the field.
“He has shown incredible passion and commitment which has created a real belief in this group and that has seen us share many memorable moments and it is important that we continue to take things forward.
“I am sure Kyle still has plenty to offer on the field and it has been a pleasure to play under his captaincy. From a personal point of view, I have certainly learnt a lot from him in that respect.”
For this match, 17-year-old Worcestershire Academy spinning all-rounder Olly Davidson was handed a full Scotland debut and seamer Safyaan Sharif also returned to the XI.
Coetzer, captaining his country for the 110th time, won the toss and decided to have a bat.
Matthew Cross was bowled by Kashif Daud for 5 off the 11th ball of the match and then Coetzer went the same way (10) at the start of the sixth over.
Calum MacLeod and Berrington set about rebuilding the innings from 25-2 and things progressed to 41 before the former was out LBW to Zawar Farid for 20.
Berrington had made a watchful 15 from 41 balls before, at the start of the 23rd over, UAE skipper Ahmed Raza had him caught by Karthik Meiyappan.
By the end of the 32nd over Scotland had made it up and over 100, but Dylan Budge (14) and George Munsey (29) had followed Berrington back to the pavilion and Scotland were 107-6 and in a bit of bother.
By the end of the allocated 50 overs they had managed to push the score onto 171 all out, Sharif contributing 30 from number nine and Davidson 14 from number 10.
In a solid bowling and fielding effort from the UAE, Daud led the way with 2-24 and, in total, five bowlers took wickets.
In the second half Scotland needed early wickets and one came in the fourth over when Sharif had Chirag Suri caught by MacLeod for 4.
Muhammad Waseem and Vriitya Aravind then took their side onto 77 before the former was caught by MacLeod off spinner Chris Greaves for 36.
Another 53 runs were added before occasional bowler Coetzer had Aravind caught by sub fielder Gavin Main. That was not before he had reached 54 though and, at 130-3, the UAE needed 42 runs to win.
Chris Sole trapped Chundangapoyil Rizwan LBW and Sharif dismissed Basil Hameed the same way, but 32 not out from Farid saw them home with just less than six overs remaining.
With the ball for Scotland, Davidson made a tidy start to life in international cricket with 0-30 from nine overs while it was nice to see Coetzer take a scalp and Sharif returned 2-37.
The Scotland squad – with two wins and two losses from games versus the USA and the UAE – will now return home from the tour this weekend ahead of a busy summer of action.
