'His control is what makes Malinga so very dangerous'

SHEER pace. Tick. Undetectable intent. Tick. Aggression and energy. Tick. But what makes Lasith Malinga such a formidable weapon is his control, Gordon Drummond insisted last night.

Picking up the pieces after another bashing by an elite cricket nation, the Scotland captain reasoned that there are few batsmen in the world who can repel Malinga when the Sri Lankan is at his fiery best.

In front of an expectant, sun-soaked crowd of almost 2,000, Scotland's batsmen folded as they sought to do justice to their efforts in the field, where they restricted Sri Lanka to 284 for seven in perfect batting conditions.

"Looking back at yesterday I think we bowled and fielded a lot better, which was a positive from today," said Drummond.

"But he (Malinga] is world class, isn't he? Unfortunately we came up against him today at his best and we didn't really have an answer for him.

"We had a definite plan of where we wanted to be during the innings, but unfortunately he was just too good.

"He just has unbelievable control. To bowl at 90mph and hit the yorkers more often than not and then also land his slower ball in the correct area, and then bowl you a bouncer… he's quite unique in that sense.

"It's not as if he's slinging it down willy nilly. He has control and that's why he's so good."

Scotland's submission for 101 matched their second-lowest one-day international return, inflicted by a ruthless New Zealand side in 2008. Presented as mitigation for that was the fact it was a dreary, grey morning when the ball was seaming wildly, whereas yesterday their enemy took a pure human form.

The lack of bite in the afternoon contest contrasted drastically with Tuesday's enthralling match against Ireland, when almost 650 runs were scored. But Majid Haq, Scotland's best performer with bat and ball, insisted the team's new-found confidence would not be affected.

Northamptonshire and Warwickshire visit Citylets Grange in the Clydesdale Bank 40 on Sunday and Monday respectively, and three wins out of four ODIs this past fortnight offers considerable hope that the season's first county scalp can be taken.

"In the first half we did superbly to keep Sri Lanka to 284 on a great batting wicket. In the second half we came up against two mystery bowlers in Malinga and (Ajantha] Mendis and I don't think any other team in the world have got guys who bowl like that," said Haq.

"Coaches can't coach how to play them. But it was great to actually get out there and face them in tandem when they were bowling at opposite ends. There was nowhere to hide really. The coaches told us to go away and not worry too much about it. Yesterday was the biggest game for us and it's good to have that in our memory.

"Playing the counties will be a bit of a comedown after Ireland and Sri Lanka in one-day international but I'm looking forward to Sunday and Monday.

"The fact we showed we can score 320 at that speed gives us a great platform."