Hamza’s hopes of a dream debut are crushed

Ferguslie Cricket Club’s Hamza Tahir was handed his one day international debut but was helpless as Scotland crashed to a shock defeat at the hands of Oman.

The Meikleriggs spinner formed part of the bowling attack as Kyle Coetzer’s side aimed to replicate the previous day’s heroics.

Scotland had dismissed their rivals for just 24 runs on their way to a record win on Tuesday – but Tahir was unable to prevent Oman exacting some quick-fire revenge just 24 hours later.

While the bowlers had managed to take all 10 wickets on their previous outing, Tahir and his teammates could only dismiss eight of the Oman batsmen as the hosts notched a score of 248 runs over their allocated 50 overs.

An opening stand from Nadeem and Khurram Nawaz got Oman off to a solid start as they both reached tallies of 64 runs.

Khuttam Nawaz’s rapid surge to his total helped Oman no end in the final overs, with five sixes putting Scotland to the sword,

Safyaan Sharif led the way for the Scotland bowlers as he clinched three wickets, while Tahir turned out for nine overs while giving up just 31 runs on what was a solid showing on his one-day bow.

Chasing a target of 249 runs to seal the three-match series, Coetzer would have pinned his hopes on the experienced duo of Michael Cross and Calum McLeod getting the team off to a solid start.

But Scotland were quickly in trouble when Cross fell for just three runs, while McLeod followed on 14.

Coetzer himself was unable to help the cause as he too struggled to get going before being dismissed for eight runs.

The middle order duo of Richie Berrington and George Munsey breathed some life into the cause as they took the score up to 96 runs before Berrington was out for a respectable return of 37.

But Berrington’s demise proved to be the beginning of the end as Craig Wallace and Munsey were quick to follow him back to the pavilion.

There was to be no late resistance, Mark Watt the only one offering anything with a total of 36.

Tahir, more accustomed to the ball rather than the bat, was out for a duck as the Oman bowlers made light work of the bottom of the order as Scotland eventually wound up 155 all out to give the hosts the win.

The two sides will do it all again tomorrow to see who takes the series, with the score tied at 1-1.