No revenge for Scots as Afghans waltz to win

SCOTLAND were given a painful cricketing lesson yesterday as Afghanistan cruised to the most comprehensive of victories at Cambusdoon, Ayr.

The talk ahead of the first of two ODIs had been of Scottish revenge following last week's Intercontinental Cup defeat. The stark reality is that Scotland's batsmen were woefully short of a competitive score and were then shown how it should be done as centuries from Mo Shahzad and Karim Sadiq, aided by poor bowling and fielding, allowed Afghanistan to win by nine wickets with 19 overs left,

Defending a modest 224-9, Scotland made an early breakthrough when Matty Parker trapped Noor Ali in front.

It should have been two wickets in as many balls for the Forfarshire bowler who then saw Shahzad dropped by Dewald Nel off his next delivery. It proved a costly miss as Shahzad, in-form after scoring a century in the I-Cup clash, joined Karim in putting Afghanistan in complete charge. Both batsmen went on to record half-centuries, Shahzad leading the way by easing to a half-century from only 39 deliveries while Karim moved more sedately to the same landmark.

The dominant Shahzad made exactly 100 from just 73 balls, hitting 15 boundaries. He was eventually overtaken by his partner who finished unbeaten on 114.

Earlier Scotland's batsmen struggled against the new ball as Shapoor Zadran and Mirwais Ashraf seized the initiative with the wickets of Preston Mommsen, Josh Davey and Richie Berrington. The pairing of Fraser Watts and Gavin Hamilton managed to add 68 in 20 overs before Hamilton departed for 31 to a brilliant Hamid Hassan yorker.

Moneeb Iqbal was then brilliantly staumped by Shahzad off a wide by Asghar Stanikzai before the departure of Watts left Scotland struggling on 118-6 in the 32nd over. When Watts departed, the opener had stroked 55 from 80 deliveries with four boundaries and a straight six off a free hit. However, when he was bowled by Samiullah Shenwar a total of 200 looked a distant prospect. However, Dougie Lockhart and Parker made 26 and 17 before Drummond carried his side to 224-9. However, it was much too little for Scotland.The Scots get the chance to make amends when the sides line up again today, also at Ayr.