ICC Intercontinental Cup, Ayr (day four of four):
Afghanistan 435 & 249/5d v Scotland 139 & 316 (110.5 ov) Afghanistan beat Scotland by 229 runs
Match scorecard (external site)

Drummond's side left themselves too much to do on the final day

Scotland fought gamely in their attempt to save their ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Afghanistan but ended up going down by 229 runs in Ayr.

Resuming on 95 for two from Friday, Gordon Drummond's side faced a target of 545 to win on the final day.

But the Scots eventually lost their final wicket, that of Matt Parker, in the 111th over.

Afghanistan took their first wicket in the 13th over of the morning, Richie Berrington falling to Abdullah.

But one brought two as Qasim Sheikh followed for a duck.

Ewan Chalmers top-scored with 67 and Moneeb Iqbal (42), Majid Haq (25) and Simon Smith (20) also played their part as the hosts made a fight of things.

It looked as though Parker, who hung around for 42, and Drummond might steal the draw but Hamid Hassan finally had Parker caught at the wicket to seal the win and claim figures of five for 114 to go with his first-innings six for 40.

Victory would have given Scotland automatic qualification for November's final in Dubai, but they still have an autumn match against Zimbabwe in which they can clinch their place.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version