Scotland men got off to the perfect start yesterday at a sun-drenched Clydesdale with a comfortable 77 run win over Namibia in the first match of the July LASER BOOK tri-series. With Scotland lying 2nd on points in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 behind Oman, this win strengthens their Net Run Rate.
After winning toss, the new skipper Berrington chose to bat first and Scotland started positively with Coetzer and Cross reaching 58 before Coetzer was dismissed by Trumpelman. Cross reached the 13th over before being dismissed by Lungameni on 28 and Berrington went shortly on 1 after being caught by Green.
At 74 for 3 Scotland looked in a bit of trouble and it needed the experience of MacLeod and Munsey to calm things down with a very patient spell moving Scotland to 168 before MacLeod was caught by Lungameni on 50. Greaves added 26 and Leask 18 however it was Munsey who produced an outstanding unbeaten 71 pushing Scotland to 258 after their 50 overs.
Namibia may have fancied their chances needing 259 on a fast pitch, however it was Scotland who started strongly with Tahir taking consecutive wickets in the 4th with Sharif following up with another in the 7th. On 8 for 3 Namibia were struggling until Louwrens and Lofte-Eaton steadied the ship with a 96 partnership until Munsey caught Lofte-Eaton off Sharif on 50.
Scotland’s bowling attack of Sharif, Watt and Main kept up the pressure, which was complimented by some excellent catches in the field with Cross, Coetzer, Berrington and Munsey all taking their chances. With Namibia still far from their target, Sharif dismissed Scholtz in the 43rd over to complete a magnificent performance earning him the Player of the Match.
Scotland play their second match of the series versus Nepal on Wednesday 13th at Clydesdale – tickets will be available at the Dolphin Road gate.
