SIZZLING SCOTLAND DEMOLISH CANADA

Scotland Men dominated from start to finish as they swept to a comprehensive seven wicket win over Canada in Toronto on Sunday.

 

Brad Currie (4-26) and Josh Davey (1-20) overwhelmed the Canadian top order with three wickets in the first twelve balls to leave the hosts on the back foot, before a late recovery led by Shreyas Movvar (60) and Jaskarandepp Buttar (32) took Canada to 184 all out.

 

The Scots lost Charlie Tear and Brandon McMullen cheaply, but Player of the Match George Munsey (84 not out) and captain Richie Berrington (64) showed class and experience to ease Scotland to their target with more than eight overs to spare, debutant Tom Bruce winning the match in spectacular fashion with a straight six.

 

It was a hugely pleasing day for Scotland, who had been frustrated by a wet pitch abandonment against Namibia on Friday, as they recorded their first win of this series. They face two more matches on Thursday (Namibia) and Saturday (Canada), as they seek to put pressure on USA and Netherlands, the sides sitting above them in the CWCL2 table.

 

On Friday, the pitch had been set alight by the groundsmen in a vain effort to dry it out for play. Here, the Scots were on fire from the very first ball, as Currie's opening delivery was guided to Mark Watt at slip by Ali Abbasi. Next ball, Currie deflected a drive onto the stumps to run out Yuvraj Samr, and Canada were immediately 0-2.

 

 

Davey marked his return to international cricket by bowling Pargat Singh with the third ball of the second over, making it 1-3. Canadian skipper Nicholas Kirton was next to go, LBW to Currie, and the Sussex seamer bagged his third wicket when he induced an edge from Dilpreet Singh Bajwa to Munsey at slip.

 

Scotland had their opponents pinned down as they restricted runs and were intent on finishing the job quickly, and McMullen got in on the fun as Watt snagged another slip catch off Akhil Kumar as Canada slid to 32-6 after 14 overs.

 

However the Canadians gradually recovered, led by wicketkeeper Shreyas Movvar who smacked McMullen for a straight six, as he and Saad Bin Zafar built a solid partnership. Bin Zafar made a watchful 29, before dragging on to give Currie his fourth wicket.

 

Movvar eventually reached a half century from 104 balls, as the Canadians moved into three figures. Currie dropped a simple chance to dismiss Buttar off Watt's bowling, but then held a far more difficult chance off McMullen to remove Movvar for 60.

 

Buttar hit out as he ran out of partners, with some lusty blows for six, but eventually skied Watt to Munsey for 32. The final Canadian pair also made hay, before Safyaan Sharif ended the innings as Canada set Scotland 185 to win.

 

Scotland's reply got off to a shaky start as Tear was caught for 10 after misjudging a Sana bouncer, before McMullen edged behind without scoring in the same over.

 

 

However Berrington and Munsey steadied the ship with a partnership of 146, which started cautiously and then gathered momentum towards the end as the Scots raced towards their target, improving their net run rate in the process. Munsey displayed his wide array of shots, including four massive sixes, as the Canadian attack was pummelled ruthlessly.

 

Berrington was watchful, and then imposing, until he yorked himself off the bowling of Singh. This brought Bruce to the crease for his first Scotland innings, and he finished in style with a maximum over long off to give the Scots the victory and the points.

 

"I thought Brad and Josh up top were excellent today, getting those early wickets was key on what was a tricky surface, so they set the game up really well for us," said Berrington.

 

"When we lost the two early wickets, it was clear we needed a really important partnership, and George and I were just clear on our game plan. We had to get through a difficult period against the new ball, but it was fantastic to see George get through that and then accelerate towards the end.

 

"We've played a lot of cricket this summer, but we know these conditions are new to us here, so I thought we adapted really well for this challenge today."