World Cup misery as Scots lose to Oman

SCOTLAND launched their marathon bid to qualify for the 2023 World Cup with a disheartening defeat to Oman at Mannofield, Aberdeen, yesterday.

Defending a meagre tally of 168 in the first of their 36 World Cup League 2 fixtures to be played over the next three years, the Scottish attack lacked pen-etration as Oman cruised to their target for the loss of just two wickets.

Mark Watt raised hopes of a fightback when he trapped Jatinder Singh lbw for 19, but ODI debutant Adrian Neill was the only other bowler to enjoy success when he took a return catch to remove Aqib Ilyas for 61.

By then Ilyas had helped manof-the-match Khawar Ali add 123 for the second wicket as the Omanis knocked-off the runs with ease. Ali, who earlier starred with the ball with four for 23, finished unbeaten on 79.

Earlier, Scotland’s out-of-sorts batsmen squandered an excellent start to be bowled out well short of a competitive tally. Skipper Kyle Coetzer and opening partner Matthew Cross took advantage of the hard ball to send it regularly flying towards the boundary. The pair put on 71 in 13 overs before Cross, having hit 33, popped-up an easy catch to extra cover.

The Scots suffered a dreadful collapse and were soon teetering on 113-6, Coetzer departing for his side’s top score of 56.

Forfarshire’s Craig Wallace’s gutsy 36 kept the Oman bowlers briefly at bay but when he was last out the Scots had limped to 168 and had failed to use 32 of their allotted deliveries.