ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009/10, recap of day 1 final between Afghanistan and Scotland
The stage has been set and the two teams are all set to battle it out to prepare themselves for first class cricket. The two teams have worked hard over the years to reach this platform and they are finally here.
Afghanistan and Scotland are playing against each other for the ICC title as part of their development program of their country’s game. The Intercontinental Cup final between the two teams is underway in Dubai-the International Cricket Council (ICC) headquarters.
The two sides qualified earlier for the final after going through an exhaustive robin-round competition between ICC’s seven best non Test playing countries.
The setting of the final match was crucial for both the teams. Where on one hand a war-torn nation will be seeking a win for their country and on the other hand the inaugural cup 2004 winner is looking to reclaim the title.
Afghanistan, especially, after a fairytale-like year of mementos in their cricket history, which saw them winning the ICC World Twenty20 qualifier, and cause the biggest upset at Asian Games 2010 in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/China-c40996 as they reached the finals of the cricket tournament
by beating favourites http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 side, but settled on the first silver medal for their country.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Afghanistan-c745’s exposure in the international circuit has highlighted the fact that their country has immense talent but lacks facilities. They have been training at the newly built ICC Global Cricket Academy, which has a state of the art facility, and looks
well settled to end the calendar year on a high note.
The final match between Afghanistan and Scotland kicked off on 2nd December 2010 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai Sports City. The Scottish captain Gordon Drummond won the toss and elected to bat first.
Scotland’s openers Fraser Watts (5 runs off 15 balls) and Preston Mommsen (3 runs off 19 balls) gave their team a shaky start as they were sent back to the pavilion within the first six overs. Kyle Coetzer was quick to follow as he was dismissed for a duck
off eight balls.
Next up was right-handed batsman Richie http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Berrington-c47840, who stabilized the otherwise failing opening order as he smashed the first four boundaries of the innings yet he also succumbed to the Afghani bowling attack for 29 runs off 53 balls.
However, a defiant Neil McCallum came as a Scottish knight in shining armour as they were stuttering on 51 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. McCallum saved Scotland from an embarrassment as he knocked an unbeaten 104 runs off 221 balls.
He stood at the crease stubbornly facing the resilient onslaught of the Afghani bowlers. Wickets kept on falling around him at regular intervals yet McCallum saved the day as he smashed 17 boundaries in the first innings of Scotland.
The middle order fell victim to spin bowler, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Parker-c80761 (9 runs off 38 balls). Majid Haq (3 runs off 27 balls) also failed to make a two-figure score as he was
caught off Shapoor Zadran.
McCallum was supported by ten-number batsman and Scotland’s wicketkeeper Simon Smith, who made 36 runs off 115 balls. Together, the pair shared a partnership of 107 runs. However, the innings ended for the Scottish side when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hamid-Hassan-c1524 dismissed Smith
and wrapped up the Scottish innings when he took the last man wicket http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AS-Scotland-c46175 scored 212 all out.
Hassan was the star bowler for the Afghanistan bowling attack as he took five wickets including Mommsen, Coetzer, and Haq.
As the day came to a close, Afghanistan were steady at 18 for the loss of one wicket as they trailed behind 194 runs as Matthew Parker took Shabir Noori’s wicket.
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