Last-wicket stand saves Scots' blushes

Wednesday 13 March 2013

SCOTLAND suffered further misery yesterday as they collapsed to 125 all out on the opening day of their Inter-continental Cup match with Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi.

Custom byline text:

William Dick

The Saltires, comfortably beaten in both Twenty20 and 50-over formats, had sought some solace in a tournament in which they have a good record.

Instead, this wretched Middle East tour plummeted to a new low as they slumped to 68 for nine after being put in to bat at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

But for a spirited last-wicket stand between Rob Taylor and Safyaan Sharif, this would have been their lowest total in the ICC's flagship first-class competition for Associate nations.In the event, their recovery was not of the magnitude to trouble the Afghans, who proceeded to claim the first innings bonus points and will today attempt to pile on the misery by setting up the chance of outright victory.Almost inevitably, it was Mo Shahzad, so often Scotland's nemesis, who took Afghanistan into the lead, spoiling Taylor's day in the process by plundering five boundaries in one over from the Leicestershire left-armer.Shahzad, who knows how to kick a side when they're down, soon sauntered off the field having smashed the last ball of the day from Matt Machan over mid-wicket for 6.There were wickets for Drummond and Taylor and two for Majid Haq but, with Afghanistan closing on 150-4 and Shahzad set on 30 not out, the prospects are distinctly gloomy for the Scots.Earlier, Taylor and Sharif spared them from the humiliation of their lowest total in the tournament.They had looked on course to fall short of their 82 against the same opponents in the 2010 final.However, the tail-enders tamed an Afghan attack which had looked unplayable as the wickets tumbled.Taylor top-scored with 48 including eight boundaries while Sharif, batting at No.11, made a mockery of the efforts of his more experienced team-mates with 20 in only his second first-class match.Yet, there had been little hint of the mayhem to follow when the new opening pairing of Kyle Coetzer and Josh Davey made a steady start in testing conditions.Both batsmen hit two boundaries but Coetzer, having reached 12, was caught in the slips off Mirwais Ashraf.His departure sparked a disastrous spell during which the Scots contrived to lose nine wickets for just 47 runs in fewer than 19 overs.Mirwais also accounted for Davey, uprooting the Middlesex man's off-stump, before Izatullah Dawlatzai, a 21-year-old pace bowler making only his fourth appearance in this format, routed his rivals.He removed Richie Berring-ton and Haq in one over before Ashraf trapped Calum MacLeod in front.Dawlatzai returned to account for Sussex's Machan and David Murphy of Northants in quick succession.He was stalled by Drummond, who hit three boun-daries in a briefly defiant 14, but both the Scotland captain and Gordon Goudie were bowled by Dawlatzai as the Scots hit their nadir at 68-9.Drummond's men must fight back to force victory if they are to cling on to second place – ahead of the Afghans – in the eight-team I-Cup table.

Contextual targeting label:

Sport

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Last-wicket stand saves Scots' blushes

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED