Richie Berrington ton sets up win over Namibia

Richie Berrington ton sets up win over Namibia

Richie Berrington's ton followed by Safyaan Sharif's triple strike helped Scotland register a 51-run win (DLS Method) over Namibia at the Grange Cricket Club in Edinburgh. The ICC World Cricket League Championship match that began on Sunday (June 11) ran into the reserve day due to rain, with the match getting reduced to a 43-over a side contest.

Earlier, Namibia skipper Surel Burger won the toss and elected to field. Scotland openers - Kyle Coetzer and Matthew Cross began well, putting on a 41-run stand, but departed in quick succession, with Christi Viljoen having both of them caught behind in the ninth over. Eight overs later, rain came down leading to play being extended to the next day, with the hosts on 69 for 2 in 17 overs.

On Monday, however, it was Berrington who led Scotland's charge. The 30-year-old South Africa-born all-rounder combined with Calum MacLeod and Craig Wallace to put two crucial stands in the middle overs, before taking the attack apart along with Preston Mommsen. When Wallace departed for a 44-ball 29, the hosts were at 151 for 4 with less than 12 overs to play. However, Mommsen and Berrington combined to club nine boundaries and five sixes to put on a 101-run stand in only 58 balls. The stand not only helped Scotland power to 268 for 5, but also helped turn the momentum in their favour.

Namibia's response was quite similar in the chase. After a good start, both the openers - Stephan Baard and Louis van der Westhuizen - fell in quick succession. While the former was a little cautious, the latter went after the bowling from the start, crunching five boundaries in his 34-ball 33. However, in a period of 30 balls, they were reduced from 47 for no loss to 56 for 4.

With Namibia already on the backfoot, Scotland bowlers kept the pressure up and didn't allow partnerships to flourish. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals and by the end of the 29th over, the visitors had seven of their top batsmen back in the pavilion with only 133 runs to their credit.

JJ Smit (26-ball 30) and Zhivago Groenewald (20-ball 42) provided the late flourish to help Namibia go past the 200-run mark. But since they were so far behind in the chase, the late carnage could do little to challenge the total on the board. Sharif dismissed both the lower order batsmen and Namibia were eventually bowled out for 217 in the 40th over.

Brief Scores: Scotland 268/5 in 43 overs (Richie Berrington 110*, Preston Mommsen 49*; JJ Smit 2-43, Christi Viljoen 2-55) beat Namibia 217 in 39.4 overs (Zhivago Groenewald 42, Gerhard Erasmus 35; Safyaan Sharif 3-40) by 51 runs (DLS Method)