T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier: Scotland ease past Germany on DLS

Summary

Scotland's opening match in T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier
Top two from round-robin progress to 2024 tournament

Live Reporting

Andrew Petrie

Hairs blasts Scotland to huge win over Germanypublished at 19:28 British Summer Time 20 July 2023
Scotland beat Germany by 72 runs
Scotland's 234-5 is their second-best ever batting innings, and that'll do the Net Run Rate no harm.
What's NRR? Think of it like goal difference in football. It's derived by taking the average runs-per-over scored by that team in each game and subtracting the average runs-per-over scored against them in each game.
Scotland are back in action tomorrow at 15:30 BST to face Jersey - the third highest rank side in this tournament - at the Grange, just a little further down the road.
We will see you then. Goodbye!
Image source, SNS
Image caption,
Hairs (right) is congratulated by Matthew Cross on another big six
SCOTLAND WIN BY 72 RUNS (D/L)published at 19:22 British Summer Time 20 July 2023
Scotland 234-5 v Germany 65-7 (target 138 D/L)
Scotland's first match in these T20 World Cup qualifiers comes to a close with an extremely comfortable victory.
Superb knocks from Oli Hairs (73) and Richie Berrington (60) gave the German side an incredibly hard target to try and reach.
They weren't helped by the rain, which saw us lose nine overs of cricket. Even that new target of 138 - thanks to DLS - proved insurmountable as the wickets fell all around.
Player of the Match coming up...
Image source, SNS
Image caption,
Michael Leask celebrates his wicket
WICKET Klein b Sharif 0published at 10.5 overs
Germany 61-6 (target 138) v Scotland
Here's the 11th and final over - we lost 9 to the rain, sadly. Sayfaan Sharif will bowl it. Dieter Klein and Dylan Blignaut are the batters.
Klein tries the big reverse scoop with the penultimate ball, but it's far too fast and accurate to be trying that, and leg-wicket leans awkwardly back having been smashed in the face.
WICKET Gangareddy b Main c Cross 4published at 10 overs
Germany 59-6 (target 138) v Scotland
Gavin Main almost wears one of his own, as Sachin Gangareddy blasts one back at the bowler. Main has to collapse out of the way, but he gets a hand up and saves a boundary.
The next ball hits Gangareddy in the hip. There's a bit of bite here.
Final ball of the over, and it gets rid of Gangareddy. He runs in hard and tries to bash the wicket as hard as possible. It's a bouncer, with the German batter swinging wildly at it. Cross gathers behind.
WICKET Naqash b Main c Watt 3published at 9.1 overs
Germany 55-5 (target 138) v Scotland
Gavin Main gets his first wicket! Naqash holes out to deep third and finds Mark Watt.
It's a good catch, as there was debate about who should go for it - Watt or Chris Greaves. In the end it was the spinner and he took it well.
Germany are being skittled here.
Postpublished at 9 overs
Germany 55-4 (target 138) v Scotland
Sahir Naqash is in and he tries to go downtown. It's not a bad effort against the bowling of Brandon McMullen, but it bounces on its way to the rope.
Naqash is almost caught out. He tries a quick single - but he wasn't getting it. McMullen underarms at the stumps but the umpire at square leg says not out. Hmm.
WICKET Van Heerden b Leask 17published at 7.2 overs
Germany 42-4 (target 138) v Scotland
Joshua van Heerden produces a fine shot to find the boundary, a glorious reverse sweep.
Another attempt at a reverse sweep... but this one is dragged on! He tried to repeat the shot that got him four, but this time got it all wrong.
The final three overs are on their way.
WICKET Mubashir b Watt c Currie 0published at 6.5 overs
Germany 38-3 (target 138) v Scotland
Mark Watt tries the 24-yarder again. Mubashir tries a reverse sweep out to point and Brad Currie slides in to take a magnificent catch. He's got previous!
A golden duck for Mubashir.
Watt is now on the hat-trick ball... it's on the money, but it's played away safely. Some pantomime boos ring around Goldenacre.
WICKET Richardson b Watt c Munsey 8published at 6.4 overs
Germany 38-2 (target 138) v Scotland
Mark Watt comes back on, and he tempts Richardson into a big swipe with one of his 24-yarders.
He didn't connect, going far too early, and it's right down Munsey's throat at long-off.
The mountain gets even steeper.
Game on!published at 5.3 overs
Germany 33-1 (target 138) v Scotland
Okay, we're back underway! It's not quite as simple as it seems though...
DLS has told us that 138 is the target for Germany, from a remaining five-and-a-half overs - 11 overs total.
That means Germany need 19 runs per over... good luck!
Gavin Main resumes his over, an hour after his last delivery.
Encouraging signspublished at Delay
Germany 33-1 (target 138) v Scotland
It seems to me that the worst of the rain has come and gone. Scotland are out there on one of the wickets warming up.
I would suggest we have a game on our hands, folks! Don't go anywhere!
Game on?published at Delay
Germany 33-1 (target 235) v Scotland
Well, here are some encouraging signs. The umpires are walking about the out-field, a couple of covers are coming off.
Play may very well resume shortly...
That Brad Currie catchpublished at Delay
Germany 33-1 (target 235) v Scotland
In case you're wondering about the Brad Currie catch that the commentators have mentioned, click below to have a watch.
In fairness, it is worth it. Think Mike Allingham v Ricky Ponting in Scotland's opening match of the 1999 T20 World Cup.
This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip twitter post
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of twitter post
Maybe tomorrow?published at Delay
Germany 33-1 (target 235) v Scotland
There are no days for Scotland to play out the rest of this game unfortunately. The schedule is simply too busy.
They face Jersey tomorrow - ranked 21st in the world in this format - who beat Austria handsomely at the Grange this morning.
The good news is, the forecast for tomorrow is a lot calmer - cloudy, but no precipitation.
Today's wait for play goes on. Maybe I will check how it's going in the Ashes...
What should Scotland expect from this tournament?published at 18:05 British Summer Time 20 July 2023
Germany 33-1 (target 235) v Scotland
Should Scotland be qualifying from this tournament? Yeah, probably. Ranked 15th in the world, only Ireland are ahead of them rankings-wise in these qualifiers.
Given the fact Scotland qualified for the World Cups in 2022, 2021, and 2016 they go in as one of the favourites.
The form book shows Scotland are flying and they look to have brought that confidence from Zimbabwe back to their own shores.
But cricket is a funny old game that has a habit of causing shocks and creating banana skins. So, who truly knows?
What now?published at 5.3 overs
Germany 33-1 (target 235) v Scotland
Now, we wait.
If the rain clears up, the players will get back out there for the remaining 14.3 overs. That would be Scotland's preference.
If they are unable to resume due to the weather, then the result of the match comes down to the Duckworth-Lewis system (DLS). What's that? Well...
DLS is based on the idea of compensating rain-affected teams for the loss of "run-scoring resources".
The method works on the basis that teams have two 'resources' to make runs with: the number of overs to be bowled, and the number of wickets in hand.
Germany's DLS par score is 60, so they are well short currently.
Image source, SNS
Image caption,
Get those covers on!
Rain stops playpublished at 17:47 British Summer Time 20 July 2023
Germany 33-1 (target 235) v Scotland
Gavin Main is on for a bowl... but that will be it! The umpires - Nitin Bathi (NED) and Mark Jameson (GER) - have taken the players off the pitch as the rain starts to pelt down in Goldenacre.
Well, will the players get back out there? Scotland wouldn't mind getting back out there. If they played the full 20 overs, it would surely be a massive boost to their Net Run Rate.
As it stands, Scotland are well ahead on Duckworth-Lewis.
They've done it! They've bowled five overs!published at 5 overs
Germany 30-1 (target 235) v Scotland
The umpires come together and have a chat. This is it... we play on!
Scotland will surely get two more balls in! This might be the most important moment of the match!
There's a four for Germany but Scotland don't care! The most important thing is they've bowled five overs!
If Michael Leask had been handed the ball, they could have done that about five minutes sooner. Good grief.
WICKET Ganesan b Sharif c Greaves 13published at 4.3 overs
Germany 26-1 (target 235) v Scotland
It's a race against the clock. Sharif is sprinting back and forth. It's a test of his fitness.
The ground staff are running for the covers.
There's a wicket. Is that what Scotland need? Not really! Venkatraman Ganesan chips one to Chris Greaves and he's gone.
Postpublished at 4 overs
Germany 26-0 (target 235) v Scotland
Scotland need to get to the five-over mark to get the DLS. Otherwise, this goes down as a no-result.
The drizzle is starting.
And the Scottish field has picked up the pace. It's just twigged for them, as the spectators run for their cars.
But wait... they've given the ball to another fast bowler?! Safyaan Sharif is bowling!