World Cup Qualifiers: MacLeod helps Scotland stun Afghanistan

Calum MacLeod’s unbeaten 157 helped Scotland stun Afghanistan by seven wickets in the inaugural edition of the World Cup qualifiers on Sunday.

In Bulawayo, MacLeod and Richie Berrington—who scored 67— stitched 208 for the third wicket as it chased down 256 with 16 balls to spare.

Earlier, Mohammad Nabi slammed 92 and Najibullah Zadran played a knock of 67 as Afghanistan posted 255.

Though Scotland lost two wickets for 21 runs, the 29-year-old MacLeod hit 23 fours and a six in his 146-ball innings to steady the ship.

Afghanistan, now a Test-playing nation, is 10th in the ODI rankings, while associate nation Scotland is 15th.

Summarised scores

Group A

At Harare

Ireland 268-7 in 50 overs (Andy Balbirnie 68; Timm van der Gugten 3-59) vs Netherlands 149 all out in 32.2 overs (Tim Murtagh 3-28)

Ireland wins by 93 runs (DLS)

United Arab Emirates 221 all out from 49.4 overs (Rohan Mustafa 95, Ashfaq Ahmed 50; Norman Vanua 4-39) vs Papua New Guinea 113 all out in 25.5 overs (Mohammed Naveed 5-28)

UAE wins by 56 runs (DLS)

Group B

At Bulawayo

Afghanistan 255 all out in 49.4 overs (Mohammad Nabi 92, Najibullah Zadran 67; Brad Wheal 3-36, Richie Berrington 3-42) vs Scotland 256-3 in 47.2 overs (Calum MacLeod 157 not out, Richie Berrington 67)

Scotland wins by seven wickets

Zimbabwe 380-6 in 50 overs (Sikandar Raza 123, Brendan Taylor 100; Solomon Mire 52) v Nepal 264-8 in 50 overs (Sharad Vesawkar 52, Aarif Sheikh 50; Sikandar Raza 3-48)

Zimbabwe wins by 116 runs