Dunedin, New Zealand: Scotland captain Preston Mommsen conceded his side lacked a “killer punch” after narrowly failing to snare a maiden World Cup win against Afghanistan on Thursday.
Mommsen said Scotland were in control with both bat and ball at various times during the Pool A match at University Oval but could not maintain the pressure.
“We got into winning positions, and regrettably in neither the first innings nor the second innings could we could land the killer punch,” he said.
The result was an agonising one-wicket loss as fellow non-Test nation Afghanistan chased down a target of 211 with just three balls to spare.
Mommsen acknowledged the match was Scotland’s best chance to secure a maiden win in three World Cup campaigns.
However, he was at a loss to explain how his attack failed to oust Afghanistan’s tail-enders after having them on the ropes at 97 for seven.
“I’m not sure exactly. Obviously experience is a huge thing, especially at a World Cup,” he said.
“We’re still new boys in terms of that and maybe that showed today.
“In those last 20, 30 overs we were trying everything, throwing everything at them to try to get [them out] and unfortunately we just couldn’t.”
Mommsen was also critical of his batsmen for failing to convert starts into big scores after Scotland were dismissed for a modest 210 in their full 50 overs.
“Six guys getting in and no one getting past fifty, that’s not something that we’re proud of,” he said of an innings where Matt Machan and Majid Haq were the joint top-scorers with 31 apiece.
While disappointed at the result, Mommsen offered his congratulations to Afghanistan for their first-ever World Cup win and was full of praise for Samiullah Shenwari, whose defiant 96 turned the match.
“He just kept on top and kept up with the run-rate as that was climbing as well,” he said. “He managed to find a way to keep [his wicket] intact there, so it was a brilliant innings by him.”
