SCOTLAND went down fighting as New Zealand came out on top in their one-off ODI at The Grange, Edinburgh.
The Scots, trounced in last week’s T20 double header, recovered to post a decent 306 with Michael Leask hitting a career-best 85.
Leask also claimed two wickets to briefly put the Black Caps under pressure in the field but the visitors’ class showed in the end as they completed a comfortable 7-wicket win with 25 balls to spare.
Skipper Richie Berrington said: “There was a lot of good stuff from us today and I’m absolutely proud of the boys.
“The first innings we maybe missed the opportunity to get 340-350 which would have given us a really good chance but Matthew and Michael batted fantastically well after we lost a few wickets in the middle.
“The second innings was a difficult balance between putting on the squeeze and taking wickets and unfortunately, we couldn’t create enough chances.
“But we will take a lot away from playing against such a quality side.”
Despite some lively bowling from Safyaan Sharif and Chris Sole, the Scots were unable to find the early breakthrough to stem the flow of runs.
Instead, Martin Guptill and Finn Allen put on 78 before the latter, having cruised to 50 with nine boundaries, was brilliantly caught in the deep by Calum MacLeod off Hamza Tahir.
The total had moved onto 125 when man-of-the-moment Leask trapped Guptill in front for 47, and the off-spinner struck again in his next over to end Dane Cleaver’s ODI debut for 32.
However, the glimmer of hope was snuffed out as Mark Chapman and Daryl Mitchell got the chase back on track.
The pair rode their luck at times but staged an unbroken 175-run partnership, Chapman leading the way with seven maximums in his brilliant 101no while Mitchell supported with 74.
Earlier Leask led the recovery after Scotland found themselves in a deep hole.
They had started steadily with Kyle Coetzer (22) and Michael Jones (36) putting on 46 for the first wicket.
However, a clutch of soft dismissals suddenly saw them wobbling on 106-5 as Michael Bracewell claimed three wickets in quick succession and Jacob Duffy and Blair Tickner one apiece.
The innings was in danger of falling apart until the Aberdonian duo Leask and Matthew Cross embarked on an effective rescue mission.
Cross struggled for his touch at first but gradually played himself into form with a series of attractive shots.
He went on to make a fine 53 from 58 deliveries with seven boundaries while adding 92 with Leask.
When he offered a simple chance to keeper Cleaver off Mitchell’s second delivery, Leask accelerated the counter-attack in thrilling style.
The hard-hitting Forfarshire batter thumped four huge hits over the ropes to bring the big Grange crowd to life.
He went on to make an exhilarating 85 from only 55 deliveries before holing out off Duffy going for another maximum.
It was left to Mark Watt (31) and Safyaan Sharif (28) to add the finishing touches but the total wasn’t enough to trouble star-studded New Zealand.
