Netherlands, USA and UAE post win

Luuk van Troost, the Netherlands captain, scored a half-century to lead his team to victory against Scotland in the Six Nations Challenge. In other matches, United States of America beat Namibia by five wickets and United Arab Emirates beat Canada.

USA 258 for 5 (Massiah 71, Lambert 64) beat Namibia 254 for 8 (Snyman 62) by 5 wickets
Scorecard

USA won the toss and put Namibia in at the Sharjah Cricket Association stadium. Namibia's top order batsmen all made starts, but could not go on to make it count. Only Gerrie Snyman, with 62, stayed at the wicket long enough to make a difference. The 87-run partnership for the sixth wicket pushed the Namibian score on to 254 for 8 in 50 overs. USA began their response well, with Rohan Alexander (18) and Mark Johnson (28) putting on 62 for the first wicket. Then, two wickets fell on that score. Richard Staple, the captain, fell with the score on 93 and Namibia were in with a chance. Steve Massiah (71) and Clayton Lambert (64, 49 balls, 8 fours, 1 six), the former West Indies international, saw USA to victory with a little more than three overs to spare.

UAE 160 for 5 (Khan 53*) beat Canada 157 for 9 (Bagai 53, Ali 3-24) by five wickets
Scorecard

Canada were no match for UAE in their opening match of the Six Nations Challenge. After being put in to bat Canada found the going tough, and could only limp to 157 for 9 in their 50 overs. Ashish Bagai (53), Zubin Sarkari (31) and Sunil Dhaniram (33 not out) made useful contributions, but everyone else failed spectacularly. There were four ducks in the innings and Arshad Ali benefited to the tune of 3 for 24 from his 10 overs. When it was Canada's turn to bowl, there simply weren't enough runs on the board. Asim Saeed (44) have his team the start they needed and Khuram Khan, the captain, finished things of with an unbeaten 53. UAE won with more than 16 overs to spare.

Netherlands 198 for 9 (van Troost 58, Blain 3-13) beat Scotland 163 (Raja 3-29) by 35 runs
Scorecard

Netherlands outclassed Scotland at the Dubai Cricket Council Ground to win by 35 runs. After being asked to bat by Scotland, they rattled up 198 for 9 in their 50 overs. Luuk van Troost, the captain, led the way with 58 from 68 balls. He hit three sixes and two fours. John Blain bowled his heard out tot take 3 for 13 from 8 overs, but lacked support. Scotland's response with the bat was weak. Even the presence of senior campaigners like Gavin Hamilton and Dougie Brown (37), the former England international, could not take Scotland home. They lost wickets at regular intervals and slumped to 163 all out in 47 overs.