Rameez propels UAE past Scotland with maiden ODI ton

Richie Berrington drives down the ground
UAE v Scotland, UAE Tri-Nation Series, Dubai January 23, 2018

UAE 300 for 6 (Rameez 121*, Ashfaq 92) beat Scotland 299 for 9 (Berrington 90, Coetzer 75, Naveed 3-47, Zahoor 3-62) by four wickets

Middle-order batsman Rameez Shahzad capped off a superb run of form in the UAE tri-series, producing a career-best 121 not out off 115 balls to lift the hosts to a four-wicket triumph over Scotland, their first win of the tournament.

After posting a pair of fifties earlier in the series against Ireland, Rameez kicked on past three figures for the first time in 11 ODIs to lead UAE to their highest successful chase in ODI cricket, besting a chase of 281 against Afghanistan in 2014. Rameez surpassed Andy Balbirnie in the process to become the leading scorer in the tri-series, ending with 258 runs at an average of 86.00.

Scotland's imposing total was set up by fifties from vice-captain Richie Berrington and captain Kyle Coetzer, who opted to bat after winning the toss. The pair added 84 for the third wicket before Coetzer fell for 75 to his opposite number Rohan Mustafa. Berrington carried on to finish with 90 off 95 balls, including another key 76-run stand with George Munsey, who contributed a brisk 47 off 29 balls.

But the Scotland innings sputtered after Munsey and Berrington fell and left them six down at the end of the 42nd over. Legspinner Imran Haider snared Munsey before Berrington succumbed to medium pacer Mohammad Naveed and UAE continued to restrict Scotland's tail, holding them to just 42 runs over the last eight overs.

Rameez made Scotland pay for the late-innings lull. After Scott Cameron and Mark Watt struck early in UAE's chase, Rameez arrived and wrested control back for UAE, teaming with Ashfaq Ahmed for a 125-run third-wicket stand. By the time Ashfaq finally departed for a career-best 92 off 87 balls, UAE's target had been reduced to 125 off the final 19 overs.

Rameez cantered the rest of the way, striking a trio of fours off Cameron at the start of the 40th over to move into the 90s before a single to start the 41st took him to a century off 91 balls. He received the necessary support late in the chase from Adnan Mufti, who made 38 off 29 balls before losing his wicket with just 12 needed off the last 21 balls. A single by Rameez off the first ball of the 50th over clinched victory.

The win for UAE took them level with Scotland at two points on the tri-series table, though Scotland officially took second place on the net-run-rate tiebreaker behind winners Ireland.

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