ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

AFGHANISTAN v SCOTLAND Conditions surprisingly favoured the pace bowlers on the first morning and Gordon Drummond must quickly have rued his decision to bat first on winning the toss. Hamid Hassan was given the use of the new ball instead of coming on first or second change. He worked up a lively pace and was well supported by Shapoor Zadran and Mirwais Ashraf. It was all too much for Scotland’s batsmen. Five wickets fell before lunch, taken when the score was 61. The only respite for Scotland was Afghanistan’s slow over rate; they managed only 27 overs in the two-hour morning session. Hamid Hassan bowled throughout the morning and into the afternoon, his opening spell comprising 22 overs in which he claimed four wickets for 40 runs. The mid morning saw some resistance from Scotland in a fourth-wicket stand of 32 between Richard Berrington and Neil McCallum, but this was broken when Berrington edged Mirwais Ashraf to the wicketkeeper to give Mohammad Shahzad the second of his four victims. McCallum remained solid but wickets fell consistently at the other end. When Scotland were reduced to 97 for eight, the match looked as good as lost. With the Afghan bowlers tiring, Simon Smith batted defiantly, albeit without much assurance, and he and McCallum added a valuable 107 for the ninth wicket in two hours and twenty minutes. Afghanistan’s captain used his spin bowlers in an attempt to break the stand but, although economic, they were not successful and eventually Hamid Hassan was recalled. He quickly had Smith caught behind and, after Ross Lyons had survived just long enough to allow McCallum to reach a well-deserved century, accounted for the number 11 to obtain his fifth wicket of the innings. McCallum remained undefeated after five hours and 26 minutes; his 104 contained 17 fours and came at a strike rate of 47.0. Matthew Parker gave Scotland some hope by bowling Shabir Noori before the close, which came with Afghanistan on 18 for one after four overs. The morning session on the second day was one of contrasts. Karim Sadiq and Mirwais Ashraf hit 35 runs off the first six overs and 55 in the first hour as Kyle Coetzer, captaining the side in the absence of Drummond who had a rib injury, struggled to stem the flow of runs. Eventually, he turned to Majid Haq and he and Berrington not only bowled tightly, but picked up wickets as Afghanistan went from 54 for one to 89 for four. The introduction of Lyons just before lunch gave the initiative back to Afghanistan as Asghar Stanikzai struck him for three fours in four balls; Nawroz Mangal then made nine runs off Haq’s last over before the break. The afternoon session saw Scotland come back into the match strongly. Haq extended his spell to 20 overs and in partnership with Parker, who bowled 11 overs for 12 runs, restricted Afghanistan to six runs from 11 overs. Once Nawroz Mangal was removed after reaching his half-century, the Afghan innings subsided remarkably quickly, going from 165 for six to 171 all out. Parker and Haq picked up three wickets each. Scotland’s joy of a first-innings lead of 41 quickly changed to despair, however, as they lost six wickets for 64 runs. Hamid Hassan again bowled well but it was the leg spin of Samiullah Shenwari which was Scotland’s undoing. Scotland were handicapped by a thigh strain to Berrington which caused him to bat down the order and only then with Fraser Watts acting as a runner. Several of Scotland’s players were upset by the almost constant appealing of the Afghan side and considered it an attempt to intimidate the umpires. Whether this was deliberate or a reflection of Afghanistan’s enthusiasm was unclear but certainly many of the appeals were, at best, wildly optimistic. However, this was no excuse for Scotland to lose Coetzer to a run-out, attempting an impossible single or to lose three wickets in the space of eight balls. Scotland’s lead of 105 runs at the close, with only four wickets in hand, looked decidely slim. Scotland’s innings lasted only eight more overs on the third morning but it was not without controversy as Afghanistan persisted with their constant appealing. Mirwais Ashraf took three wickets and Hamid Hassan one, giving him eight for the match. Afghanistan’s target of 124 runs looked a relatively straightforward task unless Scotland bowled and fielded exceptionally well. Karim Sadiq and Shabir Noori cut loose and opened with a partnership of 22 off five overs. Parker did bowl well and had Karim Sadiq brilliantly caught by McCallum running backwards from slip to take a top edge. Parker should have had more than this one wicket since he had two slip catches dropped but he marred his performance by directing Karim Sadiq to the pavilion on his dismissal, an action which led to his being spoken to by the umpires and later reprimanded by the match referee. Mohammad Shahzad gave a characteristically robust display, scoring at a strike rate of 90.3, to ensure Afghanistan an easy victory despite losing two more wickets. Afghanistan thus won the trophy at their first attempt only forty minutes after lunch on the third of the five scheduled days. Hamid Hassan was given the Man-of-the-Match award for an outstanding performance of fast bowling. 220 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10