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Berrington reaches 200 caps as Scotland defeat PNG

Lizzie Sleet @CricketScotland
November 25, 2017 6 years
Berrington reaches 200 caps as Scotland defeat PNG

Papua New Guinea 192/8 (50 overs) Bau 41, Dai 38, Watt 3/21, Leask 2/42, lost to Scotland 196/6 (46.2 overs) Coetzer 66, Berrington 39, by 4 wickets [Scorecard] 

Scotland achieved consecutive wins over Papua New Guinea in their two match ODI series ahead of their Intercontinental Cup match against Ireland and World Cricket League Championship matches against Kenya.

It was a special day for Scotland’s Richie Berrington, who was awarded his 200th cap by captain Kyle Coetzer before the start of play. Coetzer won his second toss in two days, and like the first, elected to field.

The Scotland seamers didn’t quite have the same impact at the start as they had the previous day, but this time it was the spinners who did the damage. Mark Watt claimed the first wicket of the day – Doriga trapped in front for 11 – with the score on 26/1 in the 11th over.

Michael Leask’s spin also produced two important wickets, dismissing Lega Siaka and Assad Vala, while a smart bit of work between Con de Lange and Matthew Cross ran out Tony Ura to leave PNG on 54/4 in the 22nd over.

The Scots kept things tight to ensure their opponents would only manage 10 boundaries in their innings with Watt bowling an excellent 10 over spell, claiming three wickets and only conceding 21 runs in the process.

Sese Bau top-scored with 41, while Dai made 38, but could only make 192/8 from their 50 overs.

In reply, Scotland lost Cross early but recovered well as Kyle Coetzer and Calum MacLeod (19) put on 61 runs before the latter got a leading edge back to the bowler, Vala.

Coetzer would reach his half century from 66 balls which included 7 fours and a six, and was well supported by Berrington (39) taking their side to within 71 runs of victory.

The captain departed for 66, but the calm heads of Con de Lange and George Munsey took Scotland to the brink. Munsey did depart with 13 runs still required but Safyaan Sharif brought the game to a swift end as he plundered two sixes, giving his side a 4 wicket win with 22 deliveries remaining.

After the match Grant Bradburn was quick to pay tribute to Berrington, “A fitting way to mark a special day for Richie, with another excellent win. Richie is a hugely respected member of the squad, everyone was desperate today to put in a winning performance for him.”

The Scotland squad after Berrington receives his cap

On the performance he added, “The worn surface at the Dubai Stadium was a key factor in the game, with more spin and low bounce a real challenge to combat today. Winning back-to-back is something the players have been committed to improve upon so it was pleasing to notch up another winning performance today.

The skipper played an important knock today, plus there was lots of good contributions from the middle-order to see the us home. The bowlers again set the tone with accurate discipline at the top from Ali Evans and Safyaan Sharif and then all the spinners again were miserly in conceding runs.

While Mark Watt was the standout spinner today, all the bowlers have done an outstanding job over the past two days to set up two important wins. We now look forward to switching our focus to the Ireland 4-day game at the same venue on Wednesday”

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