RICHIE BERRINGTON led by example with a dashing century as Scotland defeated the UAE to rack up their second World Cup qualifying win in a row.
The Saltires captain has struggled for runs over the past 12 months but stood up when counted to contribute with a magnificent 127 from 136 balls that included nine boundaries and three maximums.
Key run support came from down the order, with Michael Leask (41) and Mark Watt (44 not out) again making vital contributions to help Scotland post a respectable 282/8 from their 50 overs.
The UAE never really got going in their reply, promising partnerships broken up at regular intervals by the tumbling of wickets as they fell 111 runs short of the chase, all out for 171. Safyaan Sharif was the pick of the bowlers taking 4-20, with Chris Sole also chipping in with three.
The result leaves the Scots well placed to qualify for the Super 6 stage ahead of what could be a pivotal match against Oman tomorrow.
“It was really important after the win against Ireland that we turned up and adapted to the conditions at a different ground,” said Berrington. “It’s pleasing that in the end we could put in a clinical performance with the ball to make it pretty comfortable.
“As a team we speak a lot about looking to be aggressive and take wickets. That’s a real positive. We know the importance of every game in this tournament. We’ll enjoy the win but we know that there’s another tough game coming up against Oman. We have to keep looking to get better with every game.”
For the second match in succession, Scotland had Leask to thank initially for rescuing a precarious situation with his bat. UAE won the toss and made the most of the early morning conditions to leave their opponents toiling at 11/2 and then 48/4 after the majority of the top order failed to make big scores.
Chris McBride, looking to follow up his half-century against Ireland, fell first, trapped lbw by Junaid Siddique for just five, with Brandon McMullen following soon after for four. Matt Cross was another to go cheaply – bowled by Siddique for 13 – while Tomas Mackintosh could add just 11 before being caught and bowled by Zahoor Khan.
With Scotland wobbling, Mackintosh’s dismissal saw Leask join Berrington in the middle and the pair duly stabilised things before going on the attack against the UAE bowling. Just as Leask looked in good shape to repeat his Ireland heroics, however, he misjudged an attempted sweep shot and was caught for 41, bringing an end to his and Berrington’s 67-run partnership.
That brought Chris Greaves to the crease as Scotland looked to regroup and go again, aiming for a respectable target for UAE to chase.
Berrington brought up his first ODI half-century for more than a year but lost Greaves as a partner – bowled by Siddique for 22 – and then Jack Jarvis for just 2 as the Scots’ momentum looked to have again stalled. Instead they hit the accelerator over the closing 12 overs, with Watt again playing an important supporting role to help the team reach 282/8.
Berrington, though, was the star act as he went through the gears with a wide array of attacking shot-making to record his fourth ODI century. He was run out on the final ball trying to selflessly turn a single into two but his 127 had undoubtedly rescued his team from a desperate situation.
“It’s obviously pleasing to make a contribution today to get us up to a decent score after what was a tough first hour,” added Berrington. “A lot of credit to the UAE bowlers who made it really tough at times. It wasn’t the sort of wicket where runs came easy. Michael Leask came in and played that positive way that he does and took a lot of pressure off and then Mark Watt towards the end, that was a fantastic knock from him.”
UAE started off promisingly in their reply before Sole removed Aryansh Sharma and Vriitya Aravind in successive balls, with McMullen bowling Rohan Mustafa to leave the Emirati on 34/3.
When Watt caught Asif Khan off the bowling of Sharif and then had captain Muhammad Waseem trapped lbw. UAE looked in bother at 83/5. Sole came back into the attack to remove Ali Nasser for 19 before Greaves got Basil Hameed to play on to leave their opponents on 138/7.
The UAE were actually well ahead of the Scotland run rate but kept losing wickets at key intervals, with Sharif mopping up the tail to lead Scotland to a comfortable victory.
