Clydesdale Bank 40.

Group B

At The Citylets Mannofield

SALTIRES

F Watts lbw b Wood 0

K Coetzer c Carberry b Riazuddin 50

C MacLeod c Riazuddin b Mascarenhas 20

J Davey c Ervine b Riazuddin 19

N McCallum lbw b Tahir 1

L Butterworth not out 20

P Mommsen not out 11

Extras (lb4 w6) 10

Total (for five, 23 overs) 131

Fall 1-1, 2-42, 3-94, 4-96, 5-104

Bowling Wood 5-0-14-1, Mascarenhas 5-0-22-1, Riazuddin 4-0-29-2, Tahir 5-0-23-1, Ervine 4-0-23-0, Dawson 2-0-16-0

HAMPSHIRE

J Adams not out 17

J Vince st Maiden b Mommsen 45

S Ervine not out 8

Extras (lb2 w1 3

Total (for 1, 14 overs) 73

Bowling Sharif 3-0-12-0, Butterworth 2-0-15-0, Davey 2-1-6-0, Drummond 3-0-9-0, Mommsen 2-0-18-1, Haq 2-0-11-0

Hampshire won by nine wickets, D/L

SCOTLAND’s bid for a third consecutive CB40 victory ended in massive anti-climax last night when rain helped Hampshire to take victory by a slender margin.

The result will go down as a nine-wicket success for the county, but they were only four runs ahead of the Duckworth/Lewis target when torrential rain brought proceedings to a premature end.

Earlier, rain had already caused a lengthy delay before the Saltires posted a modest 131-5 from their allocation of 23 overs.

However, tight bowling meant that Hampshire were forced to work hard for their runs, with Jimmy Adams tied down, in particular. James Vince did the bulk of the scoring and he stroked five classy boundaries and a straight 6 in his 45 before he was well stumped by Gregor Maiden off Preston Mommsen.

At 62-2 the contest could have gone either way with the D/L target fluctuating in favour of either side. However, Hampshire had moved onto 73-1, tantalisingly four runs ahead, when a heavy downpour had the final say.

Earlier, the Saltires had faced just four overs when their innings were interrupted by a persistent shower. They had already lost Fraser Watts, adjudged lbw to Chris Wood in the first over, but Kyle Coetzer and Calum MacLeod were showing signs of intent.

These continued after a lengthy break, by which time the contest had been reduced to one of 23 overs a side.

MacLeod improvised his way to a run-a-ball 20 before holing out to Hamza Riazuddin. However, Coetzer once again provided the backbone of the innings as he reached the 50 landmark.

Josh Davey laboured for his 19, though he did help Coetzer add 52 for the third wicket.

There was then a huge sense of anti-climax as Neil McCallum strode out to play his final international innings, only to return moments later, having been given out lbw to Imran Tahir for a single.

The late urgency was provided by Luke Butterworth, the Australian contributing a rapid unbeaten 20. However, at 131-5, there was a feeling that the Saltires were at least 20 runs short of a truly competitive total.

Later, Coetzer paid tribute to McCallum, saying: “Macca has been a great ambassador for Scottish cricket. Mentally and work ethic-wise he is superb, a great guy to have as your team-mate.”