T20 Warm-up: Scotland get it together over Kenya at last

Mike Stanger reports on the final warm-up match before the main WT20Q tournament begins, when sweet revenge over Kenya was an enormously impressive and encouraging achievement for Gavin Hamilton's men...

This was a major morale booster for Scotland. Ahead of the start of the main competition on Tuesday, Gavin Hamilton's men needed to excise the memory of the two 10-wicket drubbings at the hands of Kenya in Nairobi last week. This match did that, and more, even though the margin of victory seemed slender – just 16 runs.

In fact, after Maurice Ouma yet again won the toss and decided to ask the Scots to bat, the die seemed cast again. But Scotland had devised a different batting order, putting Fraser Watts and Ryan Watson down the order to exploit the potentially weaker bowling, while Navdeep Poonia (17) and Kyle Coetzer (9) took the brunt of the Odhiambo brothers' pace.

Hamilton himself came in at three and anchored the innings without getting bogged down, hitting six fours and a six in his innings of 58. Around him, the others did their bit, with Watts the most helpful with 17.

When he was finally out, bowled by Kamande, the total was 115-6 and the innings was drawing rapidly towards its close. But Jan Stander had yet to contribute; when he did arrive, he blattered two fours and a six in his four-ball innings.

And then there was Richie Berrington, who faced the final over from Obanda; the first four balls all went to the boundaries, none in the same direction, and the fifth went for two. His cameo innings boosted Scotland's total to a challenging 149 for the loss of just six wickets.

In reply, the Kenyan openers Tikolo and David Obuya took off where they'd left off twice, reaching 40+ without further ado.

It looked ominous, until Hamilton brought on spin, in the form of Majid Haq. He took a wicket with his first ball – that of Tikolo, smartly caught behind by the face-masked Simon Smith for 25. The door was ajar at last, and the Scots now proceeded to prise it wider and wider with, it seemed, every passing over.

Indeed, Hamilton seemed to have suddenly become enamoured of the strategy of changing bowlers frequently. Three more times, wickets were taken with the first ball of a new bowler's spell, as Richie Berrington (pictured) – twice – and the newest seamer on the block, Kyle Coetzer, sprung their first-ball surprises on the batters. Dewald Nel, another new bowler in his second spell, waited until his second ball before striking.

Coetzer bowled four overs for the first time in a T20 game, and took two wickets, with Gordon Drummond taking two stunning catches, at shortish extra cover and at shortish mid-wicket. Hamilton also took an excellent running catch out in the deep to give Haq one of his 3-23, the Scots had a pretty good day in the field, too.

The man of the match, without any doubt, was 24-year-old Berrington, who proceeded to demonstrate why he might attract the attention of a County scout, of which there are one or two scurrying around Dubai just now. The Greenock prodigy took 3-17 and a fine catch in the deep to complete his all-round contribution to the day's success – including the key wickets of David Obuya, Kenya's top scorer with 32, and wicket-keeper and captain Maurice Ouma.

It was a hugely meaningful victory, which allows the Scots to go into their first competitive match, against the USA (who defeated the UAE by one wicket), with renewed confidence on Tuesday. Let's hope they carry their new-found assurance with them.

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