Dubai : Scotland's Neil McCallum cracked an unbeaten century to help his team post a respectable total despite a five-wicket haul from Afghanistan's medium pacer Hamid Hassan on the first day of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Intercontinental Cup at the Dubai Sports City International Cricket Stadium yesterday.
McCallum withstood the tight attack from the Afghanistan medium pacers Hassan (5 for 54) and Mirwais Ashraf (3 for 53) and Shapoor Zadran (2 for 46) to remain unconquered on 104 off 221 balls studded with 17 boundaries.
The bowling attack was so brilliant that only Scotland's three batsmen could reach more than double figures.
McCallum got support from only Richie Berrington, who hit 29 runs and No. 10 batsman Simon Smith's 36 runs. If not for the 107-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Smith and McCallum, Scotland could have been shot out for under 100 runs.
Disastrous start
In reply, Afghanistan lost their opener Shabir Noori for 11 runs after he was cleaned bowled by Matthew Parker. They now trail by 194 runs with nine wickets in hand.
It was disastrous start for Scotland after they won the toss and elected to bat. Hassan had opener Preston Mommsen caught by Afghanistan skipper Nowroz Mangal for 3 while Shapoor Zadran dismissed the other opener Fraser Watts for 5.
To make matters worse, Hassan had their experienced batsman Kyle Coetzer caught behind for a duck. Three down for 19 runs, Berrington and McCallum took the score to 51 runs when Ashraf had Berrington caught behind for 29. Ashraf made it tougher for Scotland by trapping Gregor Maiden and Parker leg before.
Hassan finally ended the stubborn partnership between McCallum and Smith by having the latter caught behind. Speaking after his five-wicket haul, Hassan sportingly said: "Credit should go to (Neil) McCallum for his innings, he worked hard and in the end was scoring five or six off an over which worked well for him and his side in the long run today."
An exciting second day is in the offing.
Scores
Scotland first innings 212 in 88.4 overs (Neil McCallum 104, Richie Berrington 29, Gordon Drummond 36, Hamid Hassan 5 for 45, Shapoor Zadran 2 for 46, Mirwais Ashraf 3 for 53) Afghanistan first innings: 18 for 1 in 4 overs.
