Brandon McMullen's maiden one-day century helped Scotland to a 76-run victory over Oman and guaranteed their place in the Super Six stage of the World Cup qualifier after opening with three wins on the spin.
McMullen’s 136 – the highest score of the tournament to date – helped Doug Watson’s side post a demanding total of 320 that Oman didn’t really come close to chasing down despite a determined rally from their lower order.
With the Gulf side also qualifying for the next phase at the expense of Ireland, who bowed out tamely with three straight defeats, Scotland will have at least two points to their total when the Super Six gets underway.
Before then they have one final group game to navigate against in-form Sri Lanka but this was another accomplished performance from the Saltires, thanks mainly to McMullen’s heroics and another half-century from captain Richie Berrington.
Chris Greaves with 5-53 was the best of the Scotland bowlers, with McMullen also taking a wicket and two catches to further embroider an impressive day’s work.
“It was a special moment for me out there, my first century for Scotland,” he said. “Hopefully the first of many. It was quick tricky out there to begin with, with a little bit of swing and nip. I just tried to keep it nice and simple, play strong shots and rebuild.
“It was a great day and a great way to finish. I thought our bowlers were clinical. Chris Sole at the top was unbelievable and for Greavo to finish it off was incredible too. We’re really chuffed with the win.”
Oman followed the tournament trend by winning the toss and putting Scotland into bat but it didn’t deliver the outcome they would have hoped for.
They made an early breakthrough when Chris McBride fell for a three-ball duck but that only brought McMullen to the crease who went on to play the innings of his life.
The Durban-born all-rounder – who qualifies for Scotland on residency grounds – quickly got Scotland up and running with a number of bold and attacking shots.
Even losing partner Matthew Cross, bowled for 27, failed to disrupt the momentum as Berrington – fresh from his match-winning century over the UAE – came to the middle to join the party.
McMullen, scoring at well over a run a ball, kept up the pressure, reaching first his 50 and then his first ever ODI century off just 92 deliveries.
Berrington was making a notable contribution, too, racking up 60 before a miscommunication between him and McMullen saw the captain run out for 60 despite a desperate lunge to get back into his crease.
McMullen looked well placed to make at least 150 but eventually holed out to long-on for 136 that left his team in the perfect place to go on and record their third victory of the tournament.
The onus, then, was on new pair Tomas Mackintosh and Michael Leask to try to take the total beyond Oman’s reach in the closing eight overs.
Leask clouted a maximum before being caught next ball to depart for 11, with Chris Greaves going without scoring just two balls later. Mackintosh added a quick 32 before being bowled, with Bilal Khan completing his five-for by claiming Safyaan Sharif’s wicket.
Mark Watt and Chris Sole helped Scotland past the 300 mark before Watt holed out for 25 as his team ended their innings on 320 from their 50 overs.
McMullen was first to strike with the ball, removing Kashyap Prajapati for 12, before Adrian Neill bowled Jatinder Singh to leave Oman on 38/2.
The wickets kept coming. Leask removed Zeeshan Maqsood for 8 before Watt came on to bowl Aqib Ilyas – dropped earlier by Berrington – for 31 just as the batter was getting into his groove.
Oman were well behind the required run rate and lost two more wickets when Greaves had Mohammad Nadeem trapped in front for 15 and then enticed Ayaan Khan into a loose shot that was well grabbed by McMullen.
The result looked a formality at that point but Oman didn’t go down without a struggle, with Naseem Khushi (69) and Shoaib Khan putting together a 105-run partnership to take them beyond 200.
Greaves finally claimed the scalp of both men and then Fayyaz Butt to complete his five-for, with Oman ending their innings on 244/9 as Scotland eased to a relatively comfortable win.
“It was a really important win today,” said Berrington. “We knew it was going to be a tough game but it was a really good performance all round with bat and ball. We’ve had a few challenges off the field but we’ve got a really strong squad and there’s a lot of belief there.
“We’ve had three different match-winners already which says a lot about this team and it’s really exciting going forward. Tuesday is going to be another big one against a very good Sri Lanka team.”
