Scotland stun India A in thriller

Scotland held their nerve against India A to clinch a one-wicket win in the final over in Glasgow. Richie Berrington and Moneeb Iqbal orchestrated a stunning comeback after it seemed all was over for the hosts.

Berrington starred with a century, and Iqbal contributed 67 to add 174 for the eighth wicket after their team was tottering at 64 for 7. India still held the edge when Berrington fell with the score on 238 - the target being 277 - but Iqbal received excellent support from No.10 batsman Gordon Goudie, who made an unbeaten 26 and steered his team home in a thrilling final over. Seamers Sudeep Tyagi and Dhawal Kulkarni had caused the bulk of the early damage by bagging three wickets each, but Berrington's knock, along with assistance from the tail, left the India A attack fumbling. They resorted to tactics like slowing down the game to a crawl, which was later rightly criticised by Scotland's assistant coach Tony Judd. India A took almost four hours and fifteen minutes to finish their overs, but even that could not save them.

"We were extremely disappointed India took so long to get through their overs," Judd said. "I don't think I can remember a game going on so long when rain hasn't been a factor. If a captain had resorted to these tactics in an official ODI he would have been looking at a ban of at least one game. This game had list A status and there is the same onus on teams to get through their overs in a reasonable time."

India had earlier overcome a shaky start to post a formidable target. Their batting centered around a 123-ball 108 from opener Ajinkya Rahane, who, with Manoj Tiwary, added 139 for the fourth wicket. But India lost their way in the last ten overs, adding just 62 and losing six wickets. Goudie, who shared the new ball, grabbed four wickets to restrict India and followed up with a critical innings in Scotland's chase.