Majid, Davey give Scotland narrow win

Scotland 255 for 7 (Coetzer 64, Heggelman 3-29) beat Netherlands 240 (Cooper 75, Majid 4-33, Davey 3-27) by 15 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A late collapse left a frustrated Netherlands 15 runs short of Scotland's 255 in the first of two one-day internationals to be played at Mannofield Park in Aberdeen. After rain marred the Intercontinental Cup tie between the two at the same venue from June 21 to June 24, the sun was finally out in Scotland and the teams' moods would have brightened even more when they heard the news from the ICC annual conference that the Associates had been reinstated to the 2015 World Cup.

By the end of the game, though, Netherlands would have been disappointed, as for the majority of their chase they looked favourites to win. Alexei Kervezee's 49 off 52 balls had led them to a strong position before offspinner Majid Haq struck thrice to give Scotland the edge. Netherlands recovered from that phase though and it looked like Tom Cooper and Mudassar Bukhari would take them home. With 27 required off 35 balls, and four wickets in hand, Bukhari, who had smashed 41 runs off 23 balls, could not get out of big-hitting mode and swung at a delivery from seamer Josh Davey. The ball went off the toe of the bat, Neil McCallum held the catch at extra cover, and Netherlands panicked.

Cooper, with only the tail for company now, looked to finish the game quickly but couldn't middle the ball. Majid came back on in the 46th over, and conceded just two runs while dismissing Tom Heggelman. Pieter Seelaar just couldn't get off strike and Cooper, batting on 71, had to watch 10 deliveries go for just three runs from the other end. Seelaar was finally removed by Davey, and when Cooper finally got to the right end he couldn't get Majid away. The required-rate kept climbing and eventually forced Cooper into an improvised shot, which he missed to lose his leg stump. That gave Davey his third wicket and Scotland the win.

Scotland had elected to bat and were given a solid start by openers Kyle Coetzer and Fraser Watts. The two rotated the strike well in a partnership of 86 from 17.5 overs. Coetzer went on to complete his half-century and contributions from Calum MacLeod and Preston Mommsen put Scotland in a position to make a big score. Netherlands pulled thing back a bit, though they owed the Scotland batsmen some gratitude for some poor shots. Coetzer and Macleod were both dismissed trying rash shots off Heggelman, who finished with three wickets. Seelaar kept things tight from one end but a late charge from Gordon Drummond, who scored 20 off just nine balls, took Scotland to a competitive total.

Netherlands' innings seemed to shadow Scotland's till the 37th over. They built a solid base, lost wickets in the middle and after 37 overs were 167 for 5 compared to Scotland's 165 for 4 at the same stage. That's when Cooper and Bukhari looked like they were going to take the game away from Scotland. Bukhari, in particular, was ruthless; he smashed 17 runs off an over from Gordon Goudie, including a six that went over square leg and into the parking lot. Scotland, though, held their nerve through that assault, and when they broke the partnership they immediately put the squeeze on and Netherlands crumbled.