Watson leads Scotland to victory over Netherlands

Scotland 138 for 6 (R Watson 47, Stelling 2-15, Reekers 2-24) beat Netherlands 137 for 8 (D van Bunge 32, T de Grooth 32, Watson 3-18, Blain 3-22) by four wickets
Scorecard

Ryan Watson, the Scotland allrounder, led his side to a four-wicket victory against Netherlands in the fifth match of the European Cricket Championships at Ayr, in Scotland. The match was restricted to twenty overs a side.

Watson and John Blain, the right-arm fast-medium bowler, took three wickets each, giving away only 40 runs in Netherlands' total of 137. Scotland reached the target with one ball to spare, Watson featuring in the chase with 47 off 41 balls - the top score of the innings.

Dougie Brown made the first breakthrough, taking the wicket of Bas Zuiderent, the Netherlands opener, with 27 runs on the scoreboard. Blain then took the next three wickets as the score moved on to 42. A 45-run partnership between Daan van Bunge and Tom de Grooth followed, only to be broken as de Grooth was bowled by Watson - the first of similar dismissals.

Scotland began the chase badly, losing their first four wickets for 16 runs, Billy Stelling and Darron Reekers taking two wickets each. Watson hung around and added 77 runs along with Neil McCallum.

Colin Smith, the wicketkeeper, and Craig Wright, the Scotland captain, scored the remaining 41 runs to ensure victory, with Wright smashing a six off the penultimate ball of the match.

Scotland, who lost badly to Ireland a day ago at the same venue, now need to convincingly beat Denmark and Italy, if they wish to win the championship. It wouldn't hurt them if Ireland slipped up.