England sure to avoid Scotland scare

Cricket365
May 10, 2014

New head coach Peter Moores' tenure began with decent success on Friday, as England defeated Scotland by 29 runs in a one-off ODI severely truncated by inclement weather at Mannofield Park in Aberdeen.

Eager to correct the wrongs of the recent past, which included an embarrassing defeat to the minnow Netherlands in the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, the team was prompt in obliging fresh coaching staff and fans alike.

Captain Alaistar Cook paved the way with a commanding 44, while fellow opener Ian Bell graduated to a fine 50. The pair added 83 runs inside the opening dozen overs, allowing the flashy Eoin Morgan's 31 and all-rounder Joe Root's inventive 17 to finalise a total of 167 for six in 20 overs.

Seamer Josh Davey was the pick of the Scottish bowlers, snaring figures of three for 28, including the important dismissals of Root and the hard-hitting Jos Buttler. Left-armer Rob Taylor, meanwhile, removed Cook and Bell.

The hosts' insufficient response of 133 for nine featured a standalone 33 from the left-handed Matt Machan and an enterprising 42 from the promising Michael Leask. The latter's innings was particularly entertaining, lined with a quintet of handsome sixes and achieved off a mere 16 deliveries.

The 23-year-old Leask was, intriguingly, named Man of the Match ahead of visiting spinner James Tredwell. A haul of four for 41 in testing conditions, arguably, should have seen Tredwell earn the accolade. Debutant seamer Harry Gurney went without a wicket.

The lone fixture afforded England fitting preparation for this month's limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, while the Scots will be eager to take the lessons learned into June's visit from the Netherlands – and August's matches against New Zealand A.