289/9 (50.0)
CR : 5.78
286/8 (50.0)
CR : 5.72
Scotland won by 1 wicket 🏆
Player of the Match
Leask
0/2591(61)
Leask has done it here. Inside edge past the stumps and away for a boundary at fine leg. Michael Leask, take a bow! Remember the name as Scotland wins this by 1 wicket in a humdinger here in Bulawayo.
Over 50
Scotland 289/9
Michael Alexander Leask91(61)
Chris Sole0(2)
Mark Adair3-57(10.0)
SCO won by 1 wicket
8:25 PM IST, 4:55 PM Local Time | Let's take a minute to breathe and come back! 91* from 61 balls and Michael Alexander Leask, take a bow! What an incredible match we have witnessed today! Nothing to take away from Ireland's efforts but they have lost two in two and find themselves in a slump. Scotland have just stolen this from Ireland and all bow down to Leask.
Coming to the run chase, Scotland were never settled. They lost wickets at regular intervals failing to push Ireland. Apart from the second wicket partnership of exactly 50 runs between Christopher McBride (56 off 60) and Brandon McMullen, nothing went their way till Michael Leask and Mark Watt joined hands trying to stitch a partnership together.
At 152/7 after 33.5 overs no one would have given a chance for Scotland. But Leask had other ideas. He slowly built a partnership with Mark Watt and the duo added brilliant 82 runs for the 8th wicket and gave Scotland a chance. Watt scored a career-best of 47 from 43 balls before getting stumped on a widish delivery of George Dockrell late in the last Powerplay.
Leask's confidence didn't go down despite his partner's departure and added another 50 runs for the 9th wicket alongside Safyaan Sharif pushing Scotland on the verge of a famous victory. It was noteworthy to mention that, Leask smoked 22 runs off Josh Little in the 47th over bringing the equation down to 22 off the last three overs.
Mark Adair had 8 in the bank to defend in the final over and Harry Tector's misfield off the first ball proved costly for the Irish side as it went for a four. But Adair came back well in the next few balls keeping the batters in check alongside getting Sharif out. Leask had the strike for the last ball needing two runs and the match-winner for Scotland got an inside edge past the keeper getting a boundary to collect two important points.
For Ireland, Adair picked three wickets, while Little and Dockrell scalped a couple of wickets. White and Campher also chipped in a wicket each.
Stay tuned for the presentations!
Coming to the run chase, Scotland were never settled. They lost wickets at regular intervals failing to push Ireland. Apart from the second wicket partnership of exactly 50 runs between Christopher McBride (56 off 60) and Brandon McMullen, nothing went their way till Michael Leask and Mark Watt joined hands trying to stitch a partnership together.
At 152/7 after 33.5 overs no one would have given a chance for Scotland. But Leask had other ideas. He slowly built a partnership with Mark Watt and the duo added brilliant 82 runs for the 8th wicket and gave Scotland a chance. Watt scored a career-best of 47 from 43 balls before getting stumped on a widish delivery of George Dockrell late in the last Powerplay.
Leask's confidence didn't go down despite his partner's departure and added another 50 runs for the 9th wicket alongside Safyaan Sharif pushing Scotland on the verge of a famous victory. It was noteworthy to mention that, Leask smoked 22 runs off Josh Little in the 47th over bringing the equation down to 22 off the last three overs.
Mark Adair had 8 in the bank to defend in the final over and Harry Tector's misfield off the first ball proved costly for the Irish side as it went for a four. But Adair came back well in the next few balls keeping the batters in check alongside getting Sharif out. Leask had the strike for the last ball needing two runs and the match-winner for Scotland got an inside edge past the keeper getting a boundary to collect two important points.
For Ireland, Adair picked three wickets, while Little and Dockrell scalped a couple of wickets. White and Campher also chipped in a wicket each.
Stay tuned for the presentations!
Earlier in the match, Richie Berrington of Scotland won the toss and decided to put Ireland in first. Brandon McMullen was on the spot with the new ball swinging both ways. Ireland's top-order batters had no answer for McMullen and lost their wickets in quick succession. Ireland were reduced to 17/3 inside five overs, with Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie getting out for golden ducks handing McMullen an opportunity to be on a hat-trick in the first over.
Mark Watt, introduced early in the attack, made his presence felt in the second delivery of his spell, dismissing Lorcan Tucker cheaply. Ireland finished Powerplay 1 at 34/4 and slowly moved forward with a 37-run 5th wicket partnership between opener Andy McBrine and Curtis Campher. Christopher McBride broke this stand by dismissing scratchy-looking McBrine (32 off 54) a few balls later after getting a life with Chris Sole dropping his catch at mid-on.
At 70/5, it looked gloomy for Ireland, but a tremendous fightback shown by their experienced batters, George Dockrell and Campher, ensured that Ireland was out of the slump. Campher and Dockrell added 136 runs for the 6th wicket. Dockrell (69 off 93) continued from where he left off in the last game scoring consecutive fifties. It was McMullen again breaking this big partnership as he knocked over Dockrell in his second spell. At the other end, Campher was fantastic on his return to the team, hammering his maiden ODI hundred to push Scotland thinking.
Campher and Gareth Delany had a quick-fire 50-run partnership for the 7th wicket putting Scotland under the pump. With Delany's (19 off 14) wicket, Brandon McMullen got through his maiden ODI five-wicket haul and finished the day with figures of 7-1-34-5. Campher (120 off 108) smoked a few big hits in the final over to Chris Sole before getting knocked over. Mark Adair (8* off 4) and Josh Little (4* off 1) scored a boundary, each taking Ireland's total to 286/8 in 50 overs. Sole, Watt and McBride are the others featuring in the wickets column, scalping one each.
Mark Watt, introduced early in the attack, made his presence felt in the second delivery of his spell, dismissing Lorcan Tucker cheaply. Ireland finished Powerplay 1 at 34/4 and slowly moved forward with a 37-run 5th wicket partnership between opener Andy McBrine and Curtis Campher. Christopher McBride broke this stand by dismissing scratchy-looking McBrine (32 off 54) a few balls later after getting a life with Chris Sole dropping his catch at mid-on.
At 70/5, it looked gloomy for Ireland, but a tremendous fightback shown by their experienced batters, George Dockrell and Campher, ensured that Ireland was out of the slump. Campher and Dockrell added 136 runs for the 6th wicket. Dockrell (69 off 93) continued from where he left off in the last game scoring consecutive fifties. It was McMullen again breaking this big partnership as he knocked over Dockrell in his second spell. At the other end, Campher was fantastic on his return to the team, hammering his maiden ODI hundred to push Scotland thinking.
Campher and Gareth Delany had a quick-fire 50-run partnership for the 7th wicket putting Scotland under the pump. With Delany's (19 off 14) wicket, Brandon McMullen got through his maiden ODI five-wicket haul and finished the day with figures of 7-1-34-5. Campher (120 off 108) smoked a few big hits in the final over to Chris Sole before getting knocked over. Mark Adair (8* off 4) and Josh Little (4* off 1) scored a boundary, each taking Ireland's total to 286/8 in 50 overs. Sole, Watt and McBride are the others featuring in the wickets column, scalping one each.
Michael Leask is the Player of the Match.
Michael Leask (Player of the Match): "I cannot put into words. This badge means a lot to me. Can't explain. Yes, we have struggled against them and can't express in words. Good to get the win. We have great hitters and depth and ball striking was great. Happy it was a team performance. I think Mark Watt played well and he deserves a lot of credit. It's just a start. We need to go deep and happy to see us doing well. He is a great player and the way he bowled upfront was incredible. Great to get the win, it's not often we win against Ireland. So, we will cherish this and move forward. Important games ahead of us."
Andrew Balbirnie (Ireland Captain): "Yes, I think the first 10 overs of batting and last 10 overs of bowling cost us. We did a pretty good things and then we lost. Credit to Leask. Not a mental block. But we need to get better at the death bowling and that's not a stat. The bowlers put up a great shift. Tough to defend totals here. But we will look back where we went wrong and come back stronger. There is hope of a comeback and hope we do that. Tough road ahead. Curtis's innings was remarkable and it was a high quality innings in ODIS. He is a committed cricketer to be fair. We got to 280+ and we were happy with it. George Dockrell always contributes to us and he is a utility cricketer for us. Always feel happy about them and hope to comeback soon. Thank you very much."
Richie Berrington (Scotland Captain): "Yeah, look it was a brilliant game of cricket. Obviously happy getting over the line there. Ahh, we had to fight all the way through. Losing a few wickets in the middle made the chase tougher. It was an exceptional knock from Leasky (Leask) to see us home.
As I said earlier in the morning, against Ireland is always a big game. The most important thing for us was to turn up and play our best cricket sticking to our plans as long as we could. We are delighted to sign off today with a win.
Yeah, we played a good brand of cricket leading up to this qualifiers in South Africa and then coming here to Zimbabwe. We had a couple of good training sessions. We have a good group of players and staff. We will look to keep this momentum going throughout the tournament.
I said to Cross at one stage, this is going neck-to-neck. Ahhh, it was a stunning game of cricket. We were quite nervous in the dressing room.
Look with the conditions we have got in the morning it was obvious to bowl first. McMullen was superb swinging it both ways. He was not fully fit at one point and hence didn't get enough time to bowl his overs. But he has worked hard and today we saw it in his execution.
From a bowling point of view, lots of good stuff as we look to keep getting better and come back even stronger in the next game. Having people supporting you makes such a difference. It's always good to have people watching you and supporting you. Thanks to the fans for supporting all the way through."
As I said earlier in the morning, against Ireland is always a big game. The most important thing for us was to turn up and play our best cricket sticking to our plans as long as we could. We are delighted to sign off today with a win.
Yeah, we played a good brand of cricket leading up to this qualifiers in South Africa and then coming here to Zimbabwe. We had a couple of good training sessions. We have a good group of players and staff. We will look to keep this momentum going throughout the tournament.
I said to Cross at one stage, this is going neck-to-neck. Ahhh, it was a stunning game of cricket. We were quite nervous in the dressing room.
Look with the conditions we have got in the morning it was obvious to bowl first. McMullen was superb swinging it both ways. He was not fully fit at one point and hence didn't get enough time to bowl his overs. But he has worked hard and today we saw it in his execution.
From a bowling point of view, lots of good stuff as we look to keep getting better and come back even stronger in the next game. Having people supporting you makes such a difference. It's always good to have people watching you and supporting you. Thanks to the fans for supporting all the way through."
So that is a wrap from our side from what was a breathtaking contest between the two neighbouring sides. I am AkshayaKrishna Polya signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Ayan Chatterjee, who, alongside our scorer/analyst Bishal Mandal brought you all the live action of this thrilling contest from the ICC World Cup Qualifiers.