The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Saltires edge closer to World Cup berth
Scotland took another step closer to the World Cup as they eased past Kenya with an eight-wicket victory in Dubai yesterday.
Half-centuries from captain Kyle Coetzer (52) and Calum Macleod (56no) helped booked the Saltires’ place in the ICC World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe next March, where a chance to secure a slot for the 2019 tournament will be up for grabs.
The Kenyans were put in to bat first but lost wickets at regular intervals as Safyaan Sharif did the business with his haul of three wickets for 33.
Chris Sole also chipped in with two for 20 as Kenya were dismissed for just 140 with two overs to spare.
Coetzer and Macleod made light work of the chase as they calmly ticked off the runs.
Matthew Cross had departed early for just two, while Coetzer was unfortunate to not be there at the end as he was smartly caught in the covers to bring his 87-run stand with Macleod to an end.
But Richie Berrington came to the crease and sped things to a conclusion as he clubbed 29 runs from 21 balls as the Scots won with 132 deliveries remaining.
The two teams will battle it out again tomorrow at the same venue and Sharif told the Cricket Scotland website: “It’s a great feeling to get the win in what we considered a ‘must-win’ game, to qualify for the World Cup Qualifiers next year.
“We produced another solid team performance with our key individuals standing up when it counted most.
“We’ve had a decent tour so far and we want to continue our form going into the final game on Friday.”