On this day in 2018: Scotland hand defeat to England in an ODI
In international cricket, very rarely do we see lower-ranked teams winning a match against a top-ranked side. On this day in 2018, Scotland, a non-Test playing country, registered a historic victory by defeating the then world’s number one ODI team England by six runs. Batting first, Scotland scored a record 371 runs for the loss of 5 wickets, the highest score by any non-Test playing team. In reply, England’s team got dismissed for 365 runs in 48.5 overs losing the game by 6 runs.
This match was full of ups and downs. Safyaan Sharif, who bowled 49th over of England’s innings, turned the game in Scotland’s favour. England had to score 11 runs in two overs and they had two wickets left. But Adil Rashid was run out on the very first ball of the over. Three runs were scored off the next three balls, but on the fifth ball of the over, he took the wicket of Mark Wood and gave the team a historic victory.
For England, Jonny Bairstow played a wonderful knock of 105 runs in 59 balls, but apart from him, only Alex Hales could score a half-century (52). England had a quick start in front of a huge and record target. Bairstow was looking in a different form and together with Jason Roy (34), he added 129 runs for the first wicket in 12.4 overs.
But after that, wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Test captain Joe Root could score only 29 runs while only 20 runs came from the bat of captain Eoin Morgan. England were in a difficult situation at that time, but then Moeen Ali (46) and Liam Plunkett (47 not out) gave them hopes. However, with the dismissal of Moeen Ali in the 46th over, England’s hopes also diminished.
In this match played in Edinburgh, England won the toss and invited Scotland to bat first at their own home. Morgan’s decision proved to be wrong and Scotland posted a record total of 371 runs for the loss of five wickets. Calum MacLeod played a wonderful knock of 140 not out for Scotland. The 29-year-old MacLeod had scored his century in just 70 balls, his first century against a Test-playing nation. This was also the first century by any Scottish player against England. He faced a total of 94 balls and hit 16 fours and 3 sixes in the knock.
