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| Visitor fights back on day three but still has its task cut out against Netherlands |
Having been restricted to 133 in the first innings in reply to the host’s 210, Scotland bowled the Netherlands out cheaply in its second innings setting itself a target of 201. Its chase got off to a shaky start with the top three falling with just 18 on the board, but the visitor recovered to end the day on 52 for 3. Preston Mommsen and Ritchie Berrington shared an unseparated 34-run stand to ensure no further damage.
If day two saw 16 wickets fall, the third day was just as eventful, with a total of 17 wickets going down. After the Netherlands’ pacemen reduced Scotland to 36 for 6 at the end of day two, an early finish to the innings loomed. But the last four wickets put up some resistance as Matthew Cross (17), Rob Taylor (46) and Safyaan Sharif (32) added useful runs towards the end.
Cross fought his way along with Taylor on resumption of play on the third day and tired to cut loose but he fell for 17 an over after the pair had taken Paul van Meekeren for 12 runs. Con de Lange then was trapped leg before by Quirijn Gunning in the next over for 0.
Taylor and Sharif shared a 35-run stand for the ninth wicket before Taylor was bowled by Vivian Kingma. Sharif fought on with Alasdair Evans for the final wicket to add 30 runs, doing bulk of the scoring before he fell to Michael Rippon.
Kingma, who picked up three of the six wickets that fell on Wednesday, finished with figures of 4 for 36.
Scotland rode on the high of spirited late resistance as Evans and Josh Davey came out all guns blazing with the new ball. The pair reduced the host to 44 for 5, Rippon alone scoring 37 of those. Roelof van der Merwe, who scored a vital 73 in the Netherlands’ first innings and topped it with two wickets, was unable to replicate his heroics in the second innings.
Pieter Seelar (19), Stephan Myburgh (31) and Peter Borren (23) then gradually stabilised the innings. After Myburgh fell with 109 on the board, the Netherlands couldn’t add too many and was bowled out in 43 overs, with a lead of 200.
Scotland lost Kyle Coetzer, Hamish Gardiner and Matt Machan as it set out in its quest for 201, but Mommsen, the captain, and Berrington held firm to take the fight to the final day.
A result is almost inevitable now given the events of the last two days, so long as the weather holds good. It is almost incidental now that the first day of the four-day match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Source: ICC