CWC Qualifiers: “Proud of the fight we showed throughout tournament”, says Scotland skipper Berrington

Bulawayo [Zimbabwe], July 7 (ANI): Following the loss to the Netherlands in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, Scotland skipper Ricchie Berrington said that he was proud of the fight his team showed throughout the tournament.

Bas de Leede’s terrific displaying of bowling and batting helped the Netherlands cruise into the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
“That is obviously a really tough one to take today and the guys will certainly be hurting right now,” Berrington admitted post-match as quoted by ICC.

“I am extremely proud of the guys for the fight we showed throughout this tournament. Unfortunately, today was not quite enough also have to give credit to their guys and the way they played. I think we probably just maybe were not as disciplined as we have been through the tournament. They ran really well between the wickets. But again, we probably just missed the mark a little bit.”

“Looking over the whole tournament, we can be very proud of some of the cricket we have played. There are certainly some good building blocks and we can keep improving.”

“A lot of different players stepped up at different times throughout this tournament, which has been really exciting to see and some young players coming into the squad as well have done really well. So that is good signs for the future,” he concluded.

The Netherlands asked Scotland to bat first. Scotland scored 277/9 in their 50 overs. Their efforts were led by Brandon McMullen (106 in 110 balls with 11 fours and three sixes) and skipper Berrington, who scored 64 in 84 balls, with three fours and two sixes. Tomas Mackintosh also played a vital cameo of 38* in 28 balls, with five fours.

de Leede (5/52) was the star bowler for the Netherlands. Ryan Klein also took two for 59 runs.

Chasing 278, Vikramjit Singh (40) and Max ODowd (20) had a 65-run opening stand. de Leede scored 123 in just 92 balls, consisting of nine fours and two sixes. His inning brought the Netherlands to the brink of victory. Skipper Scott Edwards (25) and Saqib Zulfiqar (33*) also played some crucial knocks as the Dutch chased down the total with more than seven overs and four wickets to spare.

Michael Leask (2/42) was the pick of the bowlers for Scotland.

de Leede earned the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his all-round show.