Bulawayo [Zimbabwe], June 23 : Scotland triumphed over UAE in an ICC World Cup qualifier clash on Friday.
After the win, Scotland's captain Richie Berrington said, "As a team, we speak a lot about being aggressive and taking wickets", as per the official website of ICC.
Scotland grabbed their second win in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers at the Bulawayo Athletic Club Sports ground.
According to the official website ICC, after the win, Berrington said, "As a team, we speak a lot about being aggressive and taking wickets. Sometimes, you can go for a few runs. Sole was outstanding today. All the way through, we managed to pick wickets. (On chances of making the Super Six) We know the importance of every game. We will enjoy today but we know we have a big game coming up on Sunday against Oman."
He added, "There was a bit on offer for the bowlers today, we knew it was going to be a bit of a graft. The longer you spent out there, the easier it got. We just have to keep getting better as each game comes."
On the importance of the win, Berrington said, "It was really important today after the win against Ireland to turn up and adapt to the conditions. Pleasing that we put in such a clinical performance with the ball and make it pretty comfortable."
Muhammad Waseem, captain of the UAE, won the toss and elected to field first.
Scotland were without their key player George Munsey, who was ruled out of the game because of an illness.
UAE's decision to field first yielded positive results as Junaid Siddique gave a tough time to Scotland's opening batters.
Siddique first trapped opener Christopher McBride lbw for 5 and then bowled Matthew Cross for 13. Ali Nasser and Zahoor Khan also provided great support, scalping the wickets of Brandon McMullen (4) and Tomas Mackintosh (11) respectively.
Berrington and Michael Leask then combined to stitch together a much-needed partnership for Scotland. Their unbeaten 52-run partnership helped Scotland reach 100/4 after 25 overs.
The 67-run partnership eventually came to an end when Leask departed for a well-made 41, off Zahoor Khan. Skipper Berrington though kept on fighting, bringing up a half-century and knitting together another stand with Chris Greaves.
Greaves was dismissed for 22 but Berrington kept leading the charge as he notched up a fabulous ton. Berrington's knock of 127 would come in only 136 deliveries and with a helping hand from Mark Watt (44*), Scotland posted a competitive total of 282/8 in their 50 overs for UAE to chase.
In the second innings, UAE came out to bat to lead the chase of 282 runs.
Chris Sole got the ball rolling for the Scots with two wickets in two deliveries in the fifth over, dismissing Aryansh Sharma (8) and Vritiya Aravind (0). The double strike left UAE reeling and they never quite recovered from the early blows.
Rohan Mustafa (12) was the next wicket to fall, with Brandon McMullen knocking his stumps off. Asif Khan (17) could also not convert his start, perishing against Mark Watt.
The big wicket though came when Muhammad Waseem, who was looking good, was trapped lbw by Watt on 36. Sole would come back into the attack and scalp the wicket of Ali Naseer (19), who was looking dangerous.
At the halfway mark, UAE had a stiff challenge ahead, with the score at 117/6.
Though UAE put up a determined showing ahead, it was a task too tall to overcome. Basil Hameed (30) and Aayan Afzal Khan (21), and Karthik Meiyappan (23*) tried their best but Scotland kept chipping away at the wickets.
In the end, UAE was bowled out for 171 as Scotland made it two wins in two at the Qualifier.
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