Satisfying start for Scotland as they bid to book a place at T20 World Cup

Half-centuries from Oli Hairs and Richie Berrington gave Scotland a 72-run win on DLS in their opening ICC men’s T20 World Cup Europe qualifying match in Edinburgh.

The pair helped Scotland set a mammoth target of 235 to chase, but the figure was revised to 138 following a rain delay and some solid bowling saw Germany collapse.

After being put into bat first, Scotland got off to a flying start to pile on the pressure with opening pair George Munsey and Hairs putting 73 on the board.

Ghulam Ahmadi broke the partnership in the seventh over when Munsey’s attempted ramp shot allowed for a comfortable catch from wicketkeeper Michael Richardson, but Hairs continued to cause problems for the visitors and smashed a six to bring up his first international 50.

Matthew Cross was dismissed for 10 at the halfway stage when he sliced the ball high into the air for Richardson to catch and Hairs’ stunning innings came to an end when he was bowled by Sahir Naqash for 73 runs in 36 balls.

Naqash bowled Brandon McMullen for his second wicket of the game but Berrington and Michael Leask kept the scoreboard ticking, with the captain bringing up his 50 in 26 balls.

However, he was then dismissed for 60 on the penultimate ball of the Scottish innings as they finished with 234 runs.

Venkatraman Ganesan was the first to fall for Germany in the fifth over, with Chris Greaves making a tidy catch off Safyaan Sharif, but play was soon stopped due to rain.

A revised target of 138 from 11 overs was set following an hour’s delay and Mark Watt quickly took two wickets back-to-back, dismissing Richardson and new batter Faisal Mubashir, but Naqash was able to defend the hat-trick ball.

The wickets continued to tumble as opener Joshua van Heerden was the next to fall for 17 in the following over from Leask and Naqash was caught by Watt off Gavin Main with Sachin Mandy out in the same over.

Sharif then bowled Dieter Klein for a duck with the penultimate ball of the innings as Scotland secured a comfortable victory with Germany finishing 65 for seven.