Scots stumble into world final as batsmen make hard work of chase

In what was effectively a semi-final, the Scots held their nerve to secure a tense two-wicket win over Afghanistan in sweltering conditions at the VOC in Rotterdam.

Victory had been set up by Ross Lyons' best ODI return of 3-21 but, in another low-scoring encounter, it took a battling 46 from Fraser Watts and a generous helping of 19 wides from the Afghan bowlers to see the Scots over the line.

Watt's 98-ball knock came after he hit 50 in Wednesday's win over Kenya, but the Carlton star reckons the conditions in Holland are as tough as he has faced anywhere in the world.

He said: "I've played on some green seaming wickets back home but what we've had here in the last week has been as tough as I can remember.

"Some of the wickets haven't been great and, in any case, we are not used to dry turning tracks.

"That makes it all the more impressive that the guys have got their heads down and got the job done."

Coach Pete Steindl added: "We talked last night about being prepared to fight all the way and the guys have done that.

"Fraser produced a great knock at an important time and, although he was disappointed not to bat until the end, once again we got over the line.

"We knew we needed a good start to the match and again the boys responded with our best fielding performance of the tournament."

The Scots are seeking revenge over Ireland - the only side to beat them during the round-robin stage - when they meet their oldest cricketing rivals today.

Steindl added: "It is going to be another tough one but our confidence is high and we'll give it a go."

Yesterday the Scots bowled out their opponents before the scheduled break and that meant, chasing a modest 142, they had to face a tricky four-over spell.

Ollie Hairs had already hit one four down the ground but perished trying to repeat the feat when a rasping dive off Shahpoor Zadran was well caught by Noor Ali at mid-off. Omer Hussain, introduced for his first game of the tournament at the expense of Preston Mommsen, looked the part with a couple of attractive boundaries through the offside and the Clydesdale batsman also used his feet to good effect against the spinners.

Richie Berrington fell for his third low score in a row when he attempted to hoist a Nowroz Mangal delivery out of the ground, only to pick out Jawed Ahmadi running in from the deep mid-wicket rope.

At 66-3 in the 19th over, Watts and Neil McCallum provided a mini-partnership before McCallum became the second stumping victim off Nabi and Watts holed out in the covers to Hamid Hassan.

However, when both batsmen went in quick succession, the target was still thirty runs away.

There were further alarms when Dougie Lockhart, Matty Parker and Drummond went cheaply but Moneeb Iqbal and Gordon Goudie held their nerve as Scotland claimed their place in the final with two wickets and 6.1 overs to spare.

Earlier the Scots, with Lyons to the fore, had produced a thoroughly efficient display in the field.

Afghanistan skipper Nowroz Mangal had won the toss and confidently elected to bat first. However, his move backfired when they were quickly reduced to 7-2 by a double wicket burst from Goudie.After two more wickets fell, Lyons, with support from Iqbal, went to work on the middle order.

The Clydesdale left-arm spinner completed a brilliant spell of 3-21 and Iqbal weighed-in with 2-35.

Berrington finished the Afghans off when he trapped Hamid Hassan lbw.

Only Mangal offered some resistance and remained defiantly unbeaten on 38.z