ICC/CricketEurope
IT WASN'T entirely comfortable but Scotland made a winning start to the European Championships in Dublin yesterday, fending off a spirited challenge from Denmark.
The Danes batted well in benign conditions but their total of 224 for eight was at least 40 runs too few, and the Scots plundered boundaries with enough ease to offset the loss of wickets. When a huge rain cloud emptied over Malahide they were 151 for three off 28 overs, and comfortably clear of the Duckworth/Lewis threshold.
After a 70-minute break Scotland were set a revised target of 203 off 44 overs, meaning they had 16 overs to make a further 52, and a couple of sixes from Neil McCallum expedited the outcome. Qasim Sheikh hit the winning runs for a satisfying 80 not out.
The wicket was lifeless and Denmark put on 99 for the third wicket and 40 for the fourth, before Gordon Drummond's accuracy initiated their demise. The Watsonians bowler took two wickets in three balls and when McCallum's direct hit accounted for Carsten Pedersen for 72, the Danes lost their way.
Sheikh's half-century was the rod of the Scots' run chase. The rookie No 3 replaced Maiden in the first over and drove his way to 50 off 77 balls, aided by Watson's 34 and Colin Smith's 23.
The Scottish fielding was a curious mix of very good and very poor. There may have been only five or six errors in ground fielding but on a small ground with a fast outfield, each of them cost a boundary.
Maiden had set a high standard in the sixth ball of the innings. Klokker called Michael Pedersen, then sent him back, and Maiden sprinted with the ball in hand from square leg to the non-striker's end before nailing the stumps from close range.
Weeraratna's first over with the new ball was expensive, but he did manage to persuade Klokker, on nine, to go for a big shot off his pads. Drummond chased the leading edge and took a safe running catch.
That was as good, 35-2 in the 10th over, as it would get for Scotland for some time. Carsten Pedersen and Soren Vestergaard knew they could trust a slow and low wicket and put on 99 for the third wicket without any fuss at all.
The pair played spin as well as they did seam, sweeping Glenn Rogers with impunity whenever the left-armer curved the ball into their pads, and when Vestergaard, on 50, wafted a drive to long-off, Max Overgaard picked up the mantle and Denmark continued their merry journey at four-and-a-half runs an over.
Even when Pedersen was run out for an excellent 72, trying to steal a single from McCallum at cover, the men in red did not subside. When they reached 200 in the 44th over it looked a little ominous for the Scots, but then the collapse came.
Drummond dislodged the bails when Morten Hedegaard went for a swipe to leg, and two balls later induced Thomas Hansen to chop the ball on. Drummond and John Blain gave nothing further away and the Danes had to settle for singles as they closed on an anti-climactic, but still competitive, 224-8.
The start of the reply would have frayed the nerves of both watching coaches, Pete Steindl and Peter-Paul Klokker. Thomas Hansen, the big left-armer, came down the hill spraying a couple of wides, but he straightened one up nicely at the end of the first over and Maiden, walking out of the crease, aimed a firm drive and played outside it. His stumps were splayed.
Watson was greeted with the biggest balloon of his career by David Borchersen first-up, and added a second four before aiming to hit the bowler over the top and miscuing. Borchersen stuck his right hand out above his head but the ball didn't stick.
Sheikh's eyes lit up at a full toss on the pads from Hansen. The left-hander overdid his follow-through and the ball looped slowly to square leg at knee height but Overgaard put the catch down.
Had Watson been out for eight and Sheikh for five, it would have been very interesting. But the captain, fresh from a pair in Aberdeen, relaxed sufficiently to post 34 off 42 balls before perishing to a long hop, and Sheikh was responsibility personified, driving with huge confidence as he brought up his 50 from 77 balls and never looked in the slightest trouble.
The Danes showed that they can certainly yet make an impact on this competition.