News

Scotland through to semi-finals

Scotland booked their place in the semi-finals of the Plate Championship, after cruising to a seven-wicket victory over Papua New Guinea at Chittagong

Wisden Cricinfo staff
26-Feb-2004
Scotland 115 for 3 (Iqbal 30, Young 30) beat Papua New Guinea 114 (Lyons 3-33) by seven wickets
Scorecard
Scotland booked their place in the semi-finals of the Plate Championship, after cruising to a seven-wicket victory over Papua New Guinea at Chittagong. PNG batted first but could only muster a meagre total of 114, and Scotland needed barely half their overs to reach their target.
Scotland will now face the winner of tomorrow's Group 2 showdown between Ireland and Bangladesh. Although both of those sides have already qualified, there is plenty at stake in that game - the loser faces the unpalatable prospect of taking on Australia in the semi-finals.
Scotland's decision to bowl first was quickly justified as PNG slumped to 39 for 3, with two wickets falling to Scotland's captain Kyle Coetzer. Vivian Kila attempted to mount a recovery with 34 from 46 balls, but he found no lasting support as Ross Lyons and Moneeb Iqbal scythed through the middle order in 32.2 overs.
Scotland made light work of their target, with Ian Young and Iqbal grabbing 30 runs apiece, and their coach Willie Morton was delighted with the resolve they had shown, after their terrible start to the tournament. "Our boys have done well to keep their heads up," he said. "They played very well today and looked confident. We are very happy to be in the semi-finals."
PNG's captain Chris Amini was disappointed to be leaving Bangladesh without a win. "We wanted to win at least one game but defeat today means we have failed," he said. "This is the first time we have experienced these conditions or played in such a big tournament but the experience will serve us well."
The second Plate Championship semi-final is on Monday, March 1.