Coetzer celebrates after scoring his fourth ODI century

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Captain Kyle Coetzer clubbed a magnificent 109, while Con de Lange took a five-wicket haul as Scotland secured a 26-run win over Zimbabwe via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in the first ODI in Edinburgh.

The victory will be one Scotland will savour for a while as it marked the first time they beat a Full Member nation.

Opting to bat first, Scotland got off to a solid start as wicketkeeper Matthew Cross and Coetzer amassed a 56-run partnership before Cross was clean bowled by Richard Ngarava for 33.

Calum MacLeod only made 13 runs, while Richie Berrington mustered 15 runs before he was on his way back to the pavilion.

Preston Mommsen fared no better as he was clean bowled by Zimbabwe skipper Graeme Cremer for 10 runs.

In the time that Scotland lost all these wickets, Coetzer fought brilliantly and kept the scoreboard ticking.

He went on to bring up his hundred, but only added nine runs more before being dismissed by Sean Williams for 109 off 101 balls, which included 13 boundaries and two sixes.

Craig Wallace and Michael Leask gave the hosts a huge boost towards the end of their innings as they put together an 83-run stand before Wallace was removed by Tendai Chatara for a career-best 58, which came off 54 balls and included five boundaries and a six.

Leask ended up making a career-best 59 off 38 deliveries, which included five boundaries and two sixes, as Scotland finished on 317/6 off their 50 overs.

Williams was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Cremer, Chatara, Ngarava and Sikandar Raza chipped in with one wicket apiece.

Chasing 318 to win, Zimbabwe made a strong start to their innings as Solomon Mire and Hamilton Masakadza put together a 55-run partnership before Masakadza was run out by Leask for 38.

Craig Ervine fell shortly after, but just as Zimbabwe were beginning to recover, Mire was dismissed by Con de Lange for 40.

Raza only managed to make four runs before he was run out by Berrington. After that happened, the heavens parted and the players had to go off the field.

After a lengthy delay, the match resumed, but Zimbabwe were given a revised target of 299 to win off 43 overs.

However, the rain did not stop Zimbabwe from slipping further into trouble as Ryan Burl was clean bowled by De Lange for eight runs.

Williams kept Scotland at bat for a while, but his valiant innings came to an end when he was caught behind off the bowling of Berrington for 70 off 59 balls, which included nine boundaries and a six.

Once Williams was gone, De Lange continued to rip through Zimbabwe’s lower order, but Malcolm Waller gave Scotland a major scare with his knock of 92, which came off 62 deliveries and included 10 boundaries and five sixes.

However, De Lange came to the rescue for Scotland again as he removed Waller before Safyaan Sharif applied the finishing touches by taking out Chatara for seven.

De Lange was the most successful bowler with five wickets, while Berrington, Sharif and Chris Sole claimed one wicket each.