Sharif takes four wickets as Scots seal series victory

SAFYAAN Sharif marked his big-time debut in style as Scotland completed a memorable ODI double against the Netherlands at Mannofield yesterday.

The Dunfermline Knights youngster claimed 4-27 to help restrict the Dutch to 180-9 before Kyle Coetzer's highest ODI score sealed a five-wicket win.

The Scots did survive several scares before reaching a rain- revised target of 162 from 41 overs although, ultimately, this was a comfortable victory.

They lost Fraser Watts to the second ball of their reply while Calum MacLeod became Mudasser Bukhari's second victim as home nerves jangled on 14-2.

However, after a lengthy rain delay, Coetzer's second half-century in as many days guided Scotland home with 11 deliveries to spare.

The Durham batsman again looked a class apart, adding 57 with Josh Davey who also looked fluent in making 30.

Davey's departure to Tom Heggelman sparked another minor wobble with Neil McCallum becoming the medium pacer's second victim.

Richie Berrington's poor run of scores also continued before Gregor Maiden joined Coetzer to help the Scots over the line.

Coetzer, timing his innings to perfection, hit the winning runs with his 11th boundary, while his 99-ball innings also included a glorious swept six off Tom Cooper.

Earlier, Sharif took just eight deliveries to make his mark on the international stage.

The 20 year-old had already showed impressive pace before making the breakthrough when he trapped former Western Australia batsman Michael Swart lbw. That was the beginning of a purple patch that brought Sharif three wickets in quick succession.

Next to go was Wes Baressi, undone by the bowler's pace and finding his attempted to hook lobbing into the safe hands of Coetzer. Sharif completed a memorable spell when he found the top edge of fellow debutant Vinoo Tenwarie's bat and Maiden took the catch.

At 22-3 the Dutch were teetering on the brink of disaster and they were in genuine disarray when a further three wickets fell in a four-over spell.

Gordon Goudie induced false shots from both Neil Kruger and Tom de Grooth.

Cooper, top scorer in the first match, was offering the only serious early resistance on his way to a painstaking 26 but the former Forfarshire batsman was yorked by Berrington as the Netherlands subsided to 54-6.

Skipper Peter Borren and Heggelman added 54, albeit in 20 overs, as Scotland continued to apply pressure and Goudie eventually broke the stand when Heggelman edged to the keepe.

Borren was involved in a second half-century partnership , with the hard-hitting Bukhari, who scored 28 from just 21 balls, including the only six of the innings. But Bukhari became Sharif's fourth victim, courtesy of Goudie's diving catch while Borren finished unbeaten on 71.

Saltires coach Peter Steindl believed his team upset the odds with the 2-0 series win. He said: "It was a good statement from the team to win both matches and reminds people that we are a competitive team.

"I think we will have surprised a few pundits with the way we played in the last two days."

Steindl reserved special praise for his match-winners Sharif and Coetzer.

The coach added: "Safy deserves a lot of credit for coming in and making his mark.

"Kyle batted really well and is timing the ball superbly just now. He took responsibility to get us to our target."

The Scots can now look forward to next month's even sterner tests against Ireland and Sri Lanka.

NETHERLANDS

M Swart lbw b Sharif 3

W Baressi c Coetzer b Sharif 9

V Tanwarie c Maiden b Sharif 4

T Cooper b Berrington 26

N Kruger c Drummond b Goudie 5

T de Grooth c Maiden b Goudie 3

P Borren not out 71

T Heggelman c Maiden b Goudie 22

M Bukhari c Goudie b Sharif 28

P Seelaar run out 1

Extras (lb3 w5) 8

Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 180

Fall: 1-7 2-17 3-22 4-42 5-48 6-54 7-108 8-174 9-180. Bowling: Drummond 9-0-46-0 Sharif 8-1-27-4 Davey 3-0-13-0 Goudie 7-1-18-3 Berrington 4-0-13-1 Haq 10-0-19-0 Coetzer 9-1-41-0

SCOTLAND

F Watts c Baressi b Bukhari 0

K Coetzer not out 89

C MacLeod b Bukhari 2

J Davey c Borren b Heggelman 30

N McCallum c Cooper b Heggelman 19

R Berrington c Cooper b Bukhari 10

G Maiden not out 12

Extras 0

Total (for 5 wkts, 39.1 overs) 162

Fall: 1-0 2-14 3-71 4-103 5-134. Bowling: Bukhari 9-1-21-3 Malik 8-0-45-0 Borren 7-0-25-0 Seelaar 6.1-0-20-0 Heggelman 7-0-34-2 Cooper 2-0-17-0

Scotland won by five wickets (D/L) and win the series 2-0