The ICC Associate member Scotland stunned the cricket world after beating the current no.1 ODI ranked team England in the one-off ODI at Edinburgh on Sunday. Scotland put a mammoth total of 371/5 in 50 overs while England was just six runs short from Scotland’s total as they were bundled out for 365 runs (48.5 overs).

England skipper Eoin Morgan decided to field first after winning the toss. Scotland had a very good start as their openers Matthew Cross and Kyle Coetzer put a 103-run partnership for that wicket. Coetzer scored 58 runs while Cross played a 48-run knock.

No.3 batsman Calum MacLeod played a marvellous innings and carried the team for a mammoth total. The 29-year-old right-handed batsman scored an unbeaten 140-run off 94 balls with 16 fours and 3 sixes. Richie Berrington (39 runs) and George Munsey (55 runs) provided great support to MacLeod at the crucial stage of the game.

Among the English bowlers, Adil Rashid (2/72) and Liam Plunket (2/85) got two wickets each while Mark Wood (1/71) picked up one wicket.

In reply, England had a very good start as their openers Jason Roy and in-form Jonny Bairstow provided a thrashing start. In 12.4 overs, they put a 129-run partnership for the opening wicket. Roy scored 34 runs off 32 balls while Bairstow played stormy century knock of 105 runs off just 59 balls with 12 fours and 6 sixes. No.3 batsman Alex Hales also played an important knock of 52 runs off 5 6 balls.

From 220/2, England suddenly came under huge pressure after they went down to 276/7. At later, Moeen Ali and Liam Plunkett provided another important partnership of 71 runs for the eighth wicket which brought back into the game.

After Ali was dismissed on 46 runs, Plunkett (47*) fought hard to reach the target but they just failed to win that game as Scotland created a history after finishing them on 365 runs.

Among the Scottish bowlers, Mark Watt (3/55) picked up three wickets while Alasdair Evans (2/50) and Richie Berrington (2/67) claimed two wickets each and Safyaan Sharif (1/71) took one wicket.

MacLeod won the Player of the Match award for his outstanding batting in this historic day.

Brief Scores: Scotland – 371/5 in 50 overs (Calum MacLeod 140*, Kyle Coetzer 58; Adil Rashid 2/72)

England – 365 in 48.5 overs (Jonny Bairstow 105, Alex Hales 52; Mark Watt 3/55)

Result – Scotland won by 6 runs

Important Stats Review:

• Scotland’s 371/5 is the highest ODI total for an associate member. The previous record was 347/3 (50 overs) by Kenya against Bangladesh at Nairobi (Gym) on October 10, 1997.
• England’s 365 is their joint second highest ODI total in the second innings. Previously, England had scored 365/9 (46 overs) in the second batting against New Zealand (at The Oval on June 12, 2015) while their highest second innings total is 366/8 (50 overs) against India (at Cuttack on January 19, 2017).
• England’s 365 is the highest ODI total in an all-out innings. The previous record was 349 (49.5 overs) against Zimbabwe at Kingston on March 21, 2007.
• It was Scotland’s second ODI victory against a Test playing nation. The first one was against Zimbabwe at Edinburgh on June 15, 2017, where Scotland had won by 26 runs.
• Scotland is the second associate team to beat England in an ODI match. The first team to achieve this feat was Ireland who had beaten England by 3 wickets (with 5 balls to spare) at Bengaluru on March 2, 2011.