Who would have predicted that: Scotland's Matthew Cross comes of age with maiden ODI ton against UAE

In our feature series - Who would have predicted that? – we are looking back at matches where there were big upsets or extraordinary individual performances that turned matches on their head.

With the amount of trick shots Matthew Cross (@crossy16) has been dishing out on social media, some might have forgotten that he also plays a bit of cricket on the side. We revisit the maiden ODI ton of the Scotland opener.

Match Summary

Scotland 249/8 (50 Overs) - Matthew Cross 107* (110), George Munsey 45 (44); Shaiman Anwar 3/61 (10), Mohammad Naveed 2/52 (10)

United Arab Emirates 218 (46.3 Overs) - Ghulam Shabber 90 (83), Adnan Mufti28 (36); Mark Watt 2/33 (9), Stuart Whittingham 2/35 (9)

Result - Scotland won by 31 runs

Scorecard

After back to back losses against Ireland by 6 wickets and 24 runs in the United Arab Emirates tri-nation series in 2018, Scotland were looking to open their account in the 5th match of the tournament against UAE. Following a decent 42-run partnership between openers Kyle Coetzer and Michael Jones, wickets started tumbling for Scotland.

From 42 for no loss in the 7th over, they were reduced to 133 for 6 in the 31st over. Cross then had a crucial partnership with number 6 George Munsey who scored 45 off just 44 deliveries and then with number 8 Safyaan Sharif, who provided great support to the number 3 batsman, scoring 22 off 40 balls and occupying the crease.

Cross notched up his maiden ODI century, ending on 107* off 110 balls which included 10 fours and two sixes. His knock ensured that Scotland played out their full quota of 50 overs.

Fall of wickets: 1-42 (Kyle Coetzer, 6.5 ov), 2-44 (Michael Jones, 7.5 ov), 3-67 (Richie Berrington, 16.6 ov), 4-73 (Calum MacLeod, 18.6 ov), 5-132 (George Munsey, 29.5 ov), 6-133 (Craig Wallace, 30.2 ov), 7-187 (Safyaan Sharif, 42.3 ov), 8-208 (Mark Watt, 45.5 ov)

In the chase, UAE lost Ashfaq Ahmed in the first over, but captain Rohan Mustafa and Ghulam Shabber calmed things down. Shabber was looking good for UAE and had he not been run out for 90, UAE could have given Scotland a good fight.

Lowe order resistance kept UAE in the game for some time but from 202 for 6, they slipped to 218 all out as Scotland won by 31 runs.

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Ashfaq Ahmed, 0.5 ov), 2-73 (Rohan Mustafa, 13.5 ov), 3-88 (Rameez Shahzad, 18.3 ov), 4-142 (Muhammad Usman, 27.1 ov), 5-160 (Ghulam Shabber, 31.6 ov), 6-165 (Shaiman Anwar, 33.6 ov), 7-202 (Mohammad Boota, 41.5 ov), 8-211 (Ahmed Raza, 44.6 ov), 9-213 (Adnan Mufti, 45.4 ov), 10-218 (Mohammad Naveed, 46.3 ov)

Cross received the Man of the Match award for his maiden ton. Scotland went on to make it to the final of the tri-series where they were beaten by UAE by 4 wickets. 

Teams

United Arab Emirates - Ashfaq Ahmed, Rohan Mustafa (c), Ghulam Shabber (wk), Shaiman Anwar, Muhammad Usman, Adnan Mufti, Rameez Shahzad, Ahmed Raza, Mohammad Naveed, Mohammad Boota, Zahoor Khan 

Scotland - Kyle Coetzer (c), Michael Jones, Matthew Cross, Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Craig Wallace (wk), George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Mark Watt, Alasdair Evans, Stuart Whittingham

Match Details

Match: UAE vs SCO, 5th Match, Ireland and Scotland in UAE Tri-Series, 2018 

Date: Sunday, January 21, 2018 

Toss: United Arab Emirates won the toss and decided to bowl 

Venue: ICC Academy, Dubai 

Umpires: Roly Black, Nitin Menon 

Match Referee: Manu Nayyar 

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