Matt Cross scored a brilliant century to lead Scotland to an emphatic seven-wicket win over PNG in their warm-up game.

Chasing a modest 197 for victory, the Saltires romped to victory with Cross crashing 5 sixes and 4 fours in an unbeaten 101 from 124 balls.

Skipper Kyle Coetzer set thr tone for the chase with a rapid 46 from just 23 balls (6 fours, 2 sixes) as he and Cross put on 68 in the first ten overs.

Although both Calum MacLeod (3) and Richie Berrington (11) fell cheaply, the result was never in doubt as Cross and Craig Wallace (32*) added an unbroken 94 in 18 overs as the Saltires coasted home.

Earlier three wickets apiece for Mark Watt (3-22) and Tom Sole (3-32) has restricted Papua New Guinea to 196, with Safyaan Sharif also chipping in with 2 for 44.

Sese Bau (53) and Assad Vala (39) were best with the bat for PNG, adding 58 for the fourth wicket.

A clearly delighted Cross told Ben Fox of Cricket Scotland afterwards: “It was another good win for us today.

“It was vital to get a hit out with a lot of bad weather around. Good day for the boys and important to get the victory heading into the tournament this weekend.”

Rain delayed the start of the game by 30 minutes, but Cross felt the pitch played relatively well.

“The pitch was wet when we got here this morning and obviously it was going to play a little tricky at times. It wasn’t a bad track and runs were scored quickly by both teams at certain stages.”

While Cross finished the innings strongly, he was content to play second fiddle to skipper Coetzer in their opening partnership.

“I just enjoyed watching Kyle Coetzer as he got us off to a great start with some fireworks. That allowed me to settle in and we had some good partnerships. It was good batting throughout, and we won comfortably in the end.”

Scotland now face Ireland in their second and final play-off game on Thursday before their first match in the tournament proper against the in-form Afghans.

“It’s always fun when we play Ireland and there’s no such thing as a friendly when we meet them. It’s an important game as we look to get time in the middle and prepare for Afghanistan on Sunday whom we hope to hit hard.”