Tuesday 14 July 2015 20:17, UK
Scotland got their World Twenty20 qualifying campaign back on track with a seven-wicket victory over Kenya at Grange in Edinburgh.
Following earlier defeats to Holland and Afghanistan, Scotland desperately needed a victory and they duly obliged by reaching their target of 142 with a comfortable 31 balls remaining.
After winning the toss and opting to bat, Kenya started well reaching 70-2 after seven overs.
However, off-break bowler Michael Leask put the brakes on the innings by removing Irfan Karim and Morris Ouma in the eighth over.
The former top-scored with 46 from 26 deliveries, hitting three sixes and as many fours, while Leask ended with 2-12 in three overs.
Kenya’s impetus slowed down as they ended on 141-5 from their 20 overs before Scotland’s reply suffered a terrible start losing Kyle Coetzer third ball of the innings.
The opener was bowled for a duck by Elijah Otieno, with the Scots reduced to 36-2 after Callum MacLeod was sent back to the pavilion by Lucas Ndandason.
However, 22-year-old Matt Cross hit an unbeaten 45 from 34 balls, while Richie Berrington and George Munsey weighed-in with 34 and 35 respectively.
Cross admitted: "It was an important win for us after two defeats and we had to come back strong and put on a good performance.
“Not only have we won, we've won well and convincingly, which is important. They got off to a good start and they deserved to be where they were.
“But we always knew we would pull it back in the middle overs and we felt they were a bit light on batting and our spinners bowled well."
Scotland move into third place in Group B with two matches left to seal a top-four place that would take them to the next qualifying stage.
In other Group B games played on Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates beat Canada by five wickets, while Oman enjoyed a six-wicket success over the Netherlands.
Afghanistan, who did not play on Tuesday, are top of Group B after four games – three victories and a no result.
