A remarkable post-lunch spell by skipper Peter Borren tore through the Scottish lower order at Westvliet on Friday to give his side their first Intercontinental Cup win since April 2008, as the last four wickets fell for just eight runs in the space of 23 deliveries and the Netherlands won by 44 runs.

At lunch the Scots had needed 53 to win with four wickets in hand, but Borren seized the initiative by taking the ball himself to bowl the second over after the interval.

With his third delivery he had Matthew Cross beautifully stumped by Barresi, and with the next he beat Con de Lange's groping bat and trapped him leg-before.

Sharif supported Rob Taylor long enough to see his partner past his fifty, made from exactly 100 deliveries with four fours, but then Borren struck again as Taylor flashed at one outside off stump and Barresi took a straightforward catch.

And now Borren, celebrating every wicket with increasing fervour, claimed his second in two balls for the second time, bowling Alasdair Evans to finish with the improbable figures of four for 1.

It was a climax that no-one could have predicted, even in a match which had seen so many twists and turns, but it was a fitting reward for a man who has given so much to Dutch cricket over the past decade.

Scotland worked their way methodically towards their target during the morning session, recovering from the loss of two early wickets with a fine sixth-wicket partnership between Richie Berrington and Rob Taylor.

They had resumed on 52 for three, still needing 149, but suffered an immediate setback when captain Preston Mommsen edged the second ball of the morning to his opposite number Peter Borren off Roelof van der Merwe.

And in Van der Merwe's next Josh Davey was given out caught at leg slip by Stef Myburgh, the umpires ruling after consultation that the ball had come from his boot without making contact with the ground.

With the Scots having lost two wickets without addition to the score the home side were jubilant, but those were to be their only successes for almost the whole of the morning session.

Borren rotated his bowlers in search of another breakthrough, mostly employing pace from the Paddock End and spin at the other, but Berrington and Taylor batted with a determination which had been conspicuously absent for most of the match thus far.

Berrington, who had been accumulating steadily and had added only two boundaries to his tally in the first two hours of the day, reached his 20th half-century for Scotland with a superb late cut, and with Taylor scoring freely and approaching the fifty he had narrowly missed in the first innings, the partnership extended to 93 precious runs.

Van der Merwe bore much of the brunt of the attack, bowling 17 overs in the course of the extended session with five maidens and taking two for 43.

There was a momentary scare for the visitors when Berrington, on 55, pulled a shorter ball from Van Meekeren straight to Pieter Seelaar at square leg, but the Dutch fielder spilled the chance. Then, with Scotland now needing 59 and only a couple of minutes remaining before the lunch interval, Michael Rippon skidded one through Berrington's defences and caught him in front. He had batted for almost three hours for his 59 and faced 143 balls, hitting seven fours.

Cross joined Taylor, and three more were added to the total before the players left the field. The match still hung in the balance, but then Borren stepped up and decided it with just 14 deliveries.