ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

SCOTLAND v CANADA Overcast conditions favoured pace bowling throughout the first day during which 17 wickets fell for a total of 293 runs. Scotland’s captain chose to bat first, but by lunch must have been questioning the wisdom of his decision with six wickets being lost for 81 runs. Umar Bhatti and Henry Osinde removed both openers, confirming their reputation as one of the best pairs of new-ball bowlers in Associate cricket. Nevertheless, Scotland had got to 44 before the second wicket fell. The introduction of Khurram Chauhan as first change created havoc amongst Scotland’s middle order. In a spell of aggressive swing bowling he took three wickets before lunch and two more quickly afterwards, as the home side were reduced to 102 for eight. Neil McCallum was perhaps unlucky to fall to a superb diving catch by Qaiser Ali at second slip but otherwise the batsmen succumbed to simple edges to the wicketkeeper or to being trapped leg-before. Fittingly, given that it was his choice that partly explained Scotland’s plight, it was the captain, Gordon Drummond, who came to the rescue. He did so in fine style, hitting six fours in his score of 52 made off 97 balls. He found a supportive partner in Simon Smith and together they added 83 runs for the ninth wicket and extended Scotland’s innings beyond the tea interval. Chauhan took two wickets in three balls to finish the innings and give him a return of six for 37. In reply, Canada gave an even worse display. Six wickets were down for 62 runs before Shaheed Keshvani and Rizwan Cheema put on 34. Keshvani was then bowled by Majid Haq to become the day’s solitary victim to spin. At the close Canada were still 77 runs behind with only three wickets left. It took twelve overs on the second morning to complete the Canadian innings. Jan Stander ended the resistance of Cheema, caught at the wicket by Ryan Watson, deputising behind the stumps because of an injury to Smith. Chauhan struck three fours in a last-wicket stand of 21 but Canada were still 43 runs behind when Osinde became Calum MacLeod’s fourth victim. When Fraser Watts and Moneeb Iqbal opened with a partnership of 25 without great difficulty, Scotland looked to be gaining the initiative in this low-scoring match. That this did not materialise was due to some penetrative pace bowling and a poor choice of shots. From 25 without loss, the score became 31 for three at lunch and 99 for seven by mid afternoon. Cheema and Chauhan were the most successful bowlers but Osinde and Umar Bhatti also helped to maintain the pressure. Drummond was again involved in the rescue, this time with Jan Stander who with two sixes increasingly dominated the bowling. The pair added 69 for the eighth wicket before Keshvani found the outside edge of Drummond’s bat and Ashif Mulla took his ninth catch of the match. MacLeod and Stander added a further 31 but the latter was dismissed just before the close. With Smith unable to bat, Scotland’s innings ended with a lead of 242 runs but there was not time for Canada to begin their quest for victory. Canada’s chances of making the runs suffered a setback early on the third morning when, with the score on 20, Geoff Barnett was forced to retire with a bad back. With four quick wickets and the Canadian score only at 60, Scotland had a clear advantage. Sandeep Jyoti fought back strongly in a partnership of 64 with Chauhan, both batsmen combining aggression with caution and gradually taking control over the pace attack. A change to spin, however, produced the breakthrough as Jyoti edged a well-flighted leg break from Iqbal to first slip. Two further wickets followed whilst only nine more runs were added, returning the advantage to Scotland. Mulla and Keshvani almost succeeded in bringing Canada back into the match with a partnership of 42. After the loss of Mulla, Barnett resumed his innings and he and Keshvani caused some tension in the Scottish team and their supporters as the total approached the 200. A serious misunderstanding between the batsmen led to the run-out of Keshvani with the score on 198. Barnett and Osinde did their best to accumulate the remaining 45 runs required, Osinde hitting Haq for six, but MacLeod then produced a virtually unplayable ball to remove Barnett’s off stump and give Scotland victory by 29 runs with a day to spare. 178 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10