McCallum's century is in vain as Scots tumble

Published on Wednesday 1 April 2009 23:32

NEIL McCallum scored a century for Scotland in their opening match of the World Cup qualifying tournament in Benoni, South Africa, but was still left disappointed as his side slumped to a seven-wicket loss to Ireland.

Batting at No 6, the 31-year-old came to the crease with the score at 24 for four and slammed a career-best 121 off 138 balls, sharing two half-century partnerships with Craig Wright (19) and Jan Stander (22) to help his team post 232 for seven. But the Scots were poor in defending the target, with William Porterfield's attacking century helping Ireland cruise home with 74 balls to spare.

"We didn't bowl particularly well," said McCallum. "We bowled two sides of the wicket and I guess we also bowled too many four balls. So, from ball one, we were under pressure. I think that's what cost us.

"William batted excellently, it was a superb innings. He set the tone from ball one, took ten off the first over and after that we were well behind the rate."

McCallum, whose only previous century in a one-day international came against the same opponents in Kenya during 2007, was pleased with his effort but not the final outcome.

He continued: "It was one of the better innings of my career, yeah, but not the right result.

"At 24 for four it was backs- against-the-wall stuff and we needed something. But we managed to get a few partnerships going and find the middle of the bat towards the end.

"I think the toss was quite crucial, there was a little bit in the wicket, and the Irish boys exploited that."

McCallum is optimistic there will be a positive reaction when Scotland face Namibia today. He added: "We'll bounce back, I'm quite confident.

"We knew that it was going to be two tough fixtures and we will have to show a bit of character."

Man-of-the-match Porterfield was thrilled with the way things turned out, praising his players for their efforts in the build-up.

He said: "Right from the start in the warm-up and even training yesterday, I thought it was top class, the way the lads bowled and restricted Scotland on what wasn't a bad wicket."