A brilliant century from Kyle Coetzer proved in vain as Scotland ended their tour of Australia and New Zealand with a heavy defeat to Otago Volts at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln.
The Scots were always up against it after the Volts batsmen went on a run spree to post a huge 361. However, Coetzer, the Northamptonshire opener, led a spirited response as the tourists went down fighting while failing to claim a third win of their seven-game tour. He and Matthew Cross put on 60 for the first wicket but when Hamish Gardiner and Freddie Coleman went cheaply, the Scots found themselves playing catch-up.
A stand of 110 with Richie Berrington briefly raised hopes of a remarkable run-chase. Berrington contributed a run-a-ball 54 with five boundaries and one maximum but was unable to stay long enough with Coetzer whose only other sustained support came from Preston Mommsen (30).
Coetzer, who was replaced as captain for this tour so he could focus on his batting, was eventually second last man out, having hit a superb 128 from only 121 deliveries. His knock included 16 boundaries and two sixes but, with Otago's left-arm spinner Nick Beard taking four for 54, the Scots were bowled out in the 44th over to lose by 67 runs.
Earlier, Michael Bracewell (65) and former Black Caps Test opener Aaron Redmond (71) gave the Volts a flying start by putting on 138 in 20 overs. The bowlers never fully recovered from the onslaught, though spinners Michael Leask and Matt Machan did claim three wickets apiece as the hosts were dismissed with 11 balls of their allocation remaining.
Coetzer said: "I have got myself in on a couple of occasions on tour and haven't seen it through so it was nice to go on and get three figures. Unfortunately it wasn't enough on the day and we were really looking to end the tour with a win. As a team we didn't field too badly and hung on to a few great catches but sometimes it's not your day. Batting-wise we started off positively to stay in the hunt and played some nice shots throughout the innings, but we came up short."
Scotland now head home before stepping up their World Cup preparations in Dubai next month. They will return to New Zealand for a mouth-watering World Cup opener against the hosts in February and Coetzer said: "We're all really looking forward to the World Cup now. The pitches and facilities here have been outstanding and we can't wait to come back."
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