Afghans send Scots packing once again

Tuesday 5 March 2013

SCOTLAND last night suffered a second successive comprehensive defeat by Afghanistan, this time by seven wickets, in yesterday's Twenty20 match.

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William Dick

The Saltires were looking to avenge Sunday's 27-run loss at the Sharjah Stadium but, after winning the toss and electing to bat, Gordon Drummond's side struggled again, posting a disappointing 139 for seven, before their rivals raced to victory with 15 balls to spare.

Gordon Drummond, the captain, said: "Our batsmen learned a lot from Sunday's game and we weren't far short of where we wanted to be. We thought 150-odd would be a decent score on a difficult wicket, so 139 wasn't bad."We didn't bowl well at all; that's the biggest disappointment. We didn't stick to our plans and we failed to get the early wickets that would have kept their batsmen quiet."The Afghanistan batsmen showed much more aggression, with a display of robust hitting which quickly put the issue beyond doubt. They took full advantage of a hard new ball to reach 53 for one after the six power-play overs. Scotland, in contrast, had managed to score at barely five runs an over at the equivalent stage.Karim Sadiq set the tone with a blistering 29-ball 34 including four 4s and one 6, while Nawroz Mangal also managed to score at better than a run a ball.Mangal was first to go when he was bowled by Iain Wardlaw, while Preston Mommsen had Sadiq caught behind by David Murphy. At 80 for two in the 10th over, though, Afghanistan had the platform they needed to go into overdrive. Mo Shahzad raced to 46 from only 25 deliveries and, although he became Wardlaw's second victim, he had taken his side to within touching distance of their target.Earlier, Saltires had again failed to dominate with the bat as Hamid Hassan put them on the back foot. One of the best fast bowlers in associate cricket, he took just three balls to send Richie Berrington packing for a duck before going on to claim four for 22.Kyle Coetzer also went cheaply and, while Calum MacLeod and Matt Machan repaired some of the damage in a stand of 49, the run-rate was too pedestrian for this form of the game. The Afghanistan bowlers were content to build the pressure and it paid off when Machan offered a return catch after an enterprising 39, while Mommsen quickly followed. MacLeod and Moneeb Iqbal both managed 31 but Scotland's total looked inadequate and so it proved.Drummond's men have just one day to regroup before facing the Afghans in the first of two 50-over World Cup qualifiers.

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Afghans send Scots packing once again

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