Scotland faced a frustrating 97-run defeat against the United Arab Emirates, which undermines their efforts to defend the World Cup League 2 title.
The Scots previously secured a narrow three-wicket victory over the same team just days ago, but this time they were soundly defeated by the tournament’s lowest-ranked side.
UAE’s captain, Rahul Chopra, marked his first One Day International century with a score of 101, guiding his team to a total of 296-6.
Opening batsman Aryansh Sharma added 56 runs, while Muhammad Waseem contributed 41, providing some exciting late runs alongside Chopra, who was fortunate to escape a significant lbw appeal when he was on 30.
Scotland’s batting performance was unimpressive, suffering multiple dismissals due to ill-timed shots.
George Munsey scored 43 before being dismissed in the 19th over, shortly after opener Charlie Tear managed 27 runs.
Richie Berrington and Finlay McCreath looked to revive Scotland’s innings but were dismissed in quick succession after scoring 32 and 33 runs, respectively.
At that point, Scotland was at 164-5 after 35 overs, and their resistance rapidly diminished as Simranjeet Singh took four wickets and Aayan Khan added three more to his tally.
“Hats off to the UAE,” Berrington remarked. “Today wasn’t our best performance. Consistency is key at this level.”
This match marks only the third victory out of 14 for the UAE, while Scotland stands mid-table with seven wins from 13 matches played.
Scotland’s next match is against the Netherlands, as the hosts of this tri-nation tournament, scheduled for Saturday.