Scotland enjoyed the greatest victory in their cricket history by holding their nerve to beat world No. 1 England by six runs in a thrilling one-day international (ODI) at Edinburgh on Sunday.
Despite making a mammoth 371 for five, thanks mainly to Calum MacLeod’s brilliant 140 not out, Scotland were in danger of defeat as England’s Jonny Bairstow took advantage of a good pitch and short boundaries at the Grange to make 105.
However, a middle order collapse gave non-Test nation Scotland renewed hope.
Photo: Reuters
England rallied again, thanks to a 71-run eighth-wicket partnership between Moeen Ali and Liam Plunkett, but paceman Safyaan Sharif sealed Scotland’s victory with seven balls to spare when he had No. 11 Mark Wood plumb leg before wicket to spark a pitch invasion by jubilant home fans.
Scotland’s first win in international cricket over England came in their first match since they were cruelly denied a place at next year’s World Cup after a poor umpiring decision and rain saw them miss out in their final qualifier against the West Indies in Harare in March.
“I’m lost for words, I don’t know what to say,” Sharif told Sky Sports. “We’ve been waiting for this for so long. England are a brilliant side, but scoring 371 against them means the world.”
The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to shrink the World Cup from 14 teams to 10 had already been heavily criticized long before Scotland and their fellow associate or non-Test nations impressed with the quality of their play in Zimbabwe.
Asked if Scotland had sent a message to the ICC with this win, Sharif said: “I’m not going to say anything — they’ve seen it all today.”
This was an embarrassing reverse for next year’s World Cup hosts England ahead of their upcoming five-match home one-day international series against Australia and a reminder of how Eoin Morgan’s side have been undone in one-off games, such as last year’s Champions Trophy semi-final loss to eventual winners Pakistan in Cardiff.
“[Scotland] are a very dangerous side. I thought they played close to their best cricket today and we didn’t,” Morgan said.
“It’s not the end of the world for us. It was a really good run out and good to have a practice coming into the series against Australia,” he added ahead of a five-match campaign that gets under way at The Oval on Wednesday.
Scotland’s total was their highest at this level, surpassing their 341 for nine against fellow non-Test nation Canada at Christchurch, New Zealand, four years ago.
Bairstow set a record by becoming the first England batsman to make three ODI centuries in successive innings, but it was not enough to deny the Scots.
Victory completed a notable double over England for the Sole family.
David Sole, the captain of the Scotland rugby union side that beat England at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield in 1990 to win a Grand Slam in the old Five Nations, was among the Grange crowd to watch his son Chris, one of Scotland’s new-ball bowlers.
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