Having last played a home ODI in September 2019, USA made the most of home conditions on offer by registering an emphatic 104-run win over Scotland. USA posted a mammoth 310 on the back of Sushant Modani and Gajanand Singh’s crucial half centuries while former captain Saurabh Netravalkar had his tail up and bagged a 5-wicket haul to hold off Scotland.
A flying start for USA
Steven Taylor and Sushant Modani gave early impressions of the good touch the pair were in by finding the fence twice in the first two overs. Taylor kicked on and punished the opening bowling pair of Sufiyan Sharif and Gavin Main on his way to a boundary laden 42 off 43 balls. Taylor particularly treated Main with disdain. Taking full toll of Main’s waywardness, he struck boundaries of consecutive deliveries on two occasions. Taylor departed skying a pull off Adrian Neill in the 10 over, but not before adding 67 on the board. Monank Patel wasted no time coming in at 3 and picked up two easy boundaries behind square as Main erred again with his line. Left-arm spinner Hamza Tahir had Monank caught at cover as the latter looked for one more expansive shot, having taken Michael Leask downtown for a maximum in the previous over.
Sushant Modani provides a firm anchor
Modani was rock solid amidst departing batting partners around him. He mainly relied on nudging the ball off the square and only had a solitary boundary until the 23rd over. With Aaron Jones failing to find any fluency with his innings, Modani showed some urgency, majestically carving out a cover drive and a straight drive off Sharif for boundaries in the 24th over. He pressed long with another sweetly struck off drive off Neill but missed out on his maiden hundred after edging one through to the keeper, as Neill got his man two deliveries later.
Gajanand Singh and Nisarg Patel provide the final punch
Aaron Jones’ boundary-less 35 off 61 deliveries threatened USA’s prospects of crossing over the all-important 300-run mark on a very placid wicket. Coming into the 37th over, Singh threw caution to the winds straight away. He swatted a pull shot over the bowler’s head for four off his second delivery and in no time produced two more through the point region off his slashing blade. Gajanand brought up his half-century off 30 balls as Scotland looked completely sapped in the Texas heat. Allrounder Nisarg Patel toyed with Main, as he was quick to decipher his slower deliveries and dispatched them with ease. The pair was also severe on Sharif, flaying him for a six each in the penultimate over. The pair added an unbeaten 60 runs off 37 deliveries with Gajanand signing off with 60 off 39 balls.
Saurabj Netravalkar, bowlers shoot down Scotland’s chase
Netravalkar drew first blood off Scotland by having Matthew Cross holing out to mid-off. He was immaculate with his lines in conditions that offered little for pace bowling. Sensing little help to faster bowlers, USA introduced spin twins Nosthush Kenjige and Nisarg. Kyle Coetzer and Callum Macleod added a sluggish 50-run stand before Coetzer mistimed one straight to short cover. The floodgates had opened up for Scotland after Coetzer’s wicket with an added pressure of a mounting required run-rate. Nisarg had Macleod’s leg stump rooted to bring the enterprising George Munsey to the crease.
Munsey dazzled for a while showcasing his repertoire of sweeps and reverse sweeps. But the re-introduction of Netravalkar and Rusty Theron dismantled the Scots as they seemed ill equipped to counter the reverse swinging ball. In the end Scotland was shot out for 206.
Brief Scores: USA 310-5 off 50 overs (Sushant Modani 77, Gajanand Singh 60; Adrian Neill 2-49) beat Scotland 206 off 46.1 overs (George Munsey 54, Callum Macleod 40; Saurabh Netravalkar 5-45)
