Shining start for Scotland debutant Mcmullen

Scotland cricket head coach Shane Burger was pleased with Brandon Mcmullen’s all-round display in the victory against Namibia.

The debutant shone with bat and ball, taking three wickets and contributing 31 runs with the bat to seal a four-wicket win for Scotland.

Mcmullen was part of the travelling Scotland squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia but did not feature in any of their three games.

Head coach Shane Burger spoke of this tour being an opportunity for the younger players in the squad and Mcmullen proved his selection was merited.

Scotland restricted Namibia to 211 from their 50 overs, in the first of four one-day internationals against them and Nepal in the World Cricket League qualifiers. Kyle Coetzer’s 50 at the start of the Scotland innings helped get them on their way towards a positive result.

“Brandon managing to get a few wickets up front, with the new ball on debut, was superb,” said Burger. “We couldn’t have asked for a better debut from him.

“I thought the way Kyle started was outstanding – just some incredibly strong shots. It sent a really good message and probably set himself up to go really big. There were some quieter contributions from others.

“It was good to see Brandon take responsibility again with the bat, finishing the game not-out.

“The disappointing thing from a batting perspective was there wasn’t any of those match-winning knocks, where guys take responsibility and make sure they win the game for the team.

“We’ll learn one or two things from it and make sure we rest up for Nepal.”

Scotland got off to a great start, having Namibia four down for 45 runs as Mcmullen made the most of his opportunity.

The South African-born all-rounder struck three times in the first 15 overs to give the Scots a great platform to attack from.

Namibia were anchored by a commendable performance from their skipper Gerhard Erasmus, who finished on 96 not out and was ably supported by JJ Smit (38).

Safyan Sharif returned to the attack to wrestle back control, taking three wickets of his own as the hosts finished on 211 for nine. Aberdonian Coetzer, who resigned the Scotland captaincy in the summer, got their innings off to a flying start with a halfcentury off 44 balls before he was bowled by Tangeni Lungameni.

Another new face in the squad, Dumfries batter Chris Mcbride, stepped up to the plate in just his fourth ODI with a knock of 30 and skipper Richie Berrington added 36.

However, Scotland slowed up in the middle overs, after a break due to thunder and lightning, but Mcmullen was able to see Scotland over the line. “I’m very happy with the win – we’ll take that as a first performance of the trip,” said Burger.

“We set high goals for this trip and we want to make sure we achieve them.

“It got a little bit closer than we might have liked in the end but we were really happy restricting them to 211 off 50 overs. The seamers in particular were outstanding on this wicket.”

Scotland are back in action on Sunday against Nepal.

PROVING HIS WORTH: Brandon Mcmullen took three wickets and notched up 31 runs in an impressive all-round display against Namibia.