Coetzer fires Scots to 318

Opener Kyle Coetzer blasted a remarkable 156 runs as Scotland piled up a total of 318 against Bangladesh in their Pool A World Cup tie in Nelson on Thursday. 

Tigers skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza opted to bowl first after winning the toss, a decision that raised a few eyebrows.

The call did look well made in the early overs though as Mashrafe sent opener Calum Macleod to the pavilion in the third over while Taskin Ahmed struck in the 10th over with only 38 runs on board. 

Durham player Coetzer then decided to have his say, making 78 and 141 in the fourth and fifth wicket partnerships with Matt Machan (35) and Preston Mommsen (39) respectively.

Coetzer’s fiery 156 came in just 134 balls as he became the first batsman from an Associate nation to hit 150 runs in a World Cup tie.

On the way to the first ever century by a Scotland player in the World Cup, the Durham man hit 17 fours and four sixes before Nasir Hossain, in for the out-of-form Mominul Haque, brought an end to his exploits. 

Richie Berrington and Matthew Cross then hit 26 and 20 runs to take the score past 300, something Bangladesh did not expect before the game.

Taskin Ahmed was the most successful bowler for the Tigers, grabbing three wickets while Nasir picked two and Mashrafe, Shakib Al Hasan and Sabbir Rahman took one scalps each.

Bangladesh now need to score at a rate of 6.38 runs per over, which looks an uphill task, but the Tigers are not playing the game’s fiercest attack.