Saurabh Netravalkar produced a hostile spell with the new ball as USA’s top order made short work of a modest chase, cruising to a convincing six-wicket victory with 23 overs still left in the contest. The result also marked USA’s first win on their Nepal tour after suffering two straight defeats beforehand. Scotland, after winning the toss, chose to bat first and found it harder than expected to turn the pitch into an advantage, despite the surface looking like it could suit strokeplay.
Rushil Ugarkar—an MI New York quick who narrowly missed out on a World Cup spot—showed signs of carrying on from his breakthrough run of 5 for 22 last November. He struck immediately, trapping Charlie McReath plumb in front with a fuller delivery that dipped back slightly. Ugarkar almost struck again a couple of balls later, as an edge from Brandon McMullen found the keeper and a diving slip, resulting in four. Even so, Scotland raced to 37 for 1 in the opening six overs, with George Munsey striking boundaries freely against Ugarkar, and the early pattern suggested USA might need something special to force a collapse.
That “something” arrived in the form of Netravalkar. After keeping Munsey to just a single run off his previous 12 balls, the bowler finally created the breakthrough. Munsey, frustrated by the pressure of dot balls, advanced down the ground to try to break the spell, only to play on to a good-length delivery that slipped through to the keeper. Netravalkar struck again in the next over with a wicket maiden, removing Richie Berrington after the Scotland captain poked uncertainly outside the fourth stump. Michael English followed quickly as the innings continued to unravel, with a barrage of tight deliveries eventually forcing the error—English fidgeted at a ball that moved sharply and ended up caught in the slip region.
Netravalkar wrapped up a long opening burst in impressive fashion, finishing with figures of 7-3-16-3 and completely flipping the momentum in USA’s favour. Scotland tried to recover after surviving the early burst, but Shubham Ranjane dealt another blow by dismissing McMullen, the batter who looked best placed to drag Scotland out of trouble. From there, the innings took another turn through Mark Watt, who stepped up with the highest ODI score of his career. Watt struck 66 and, alongside Matt Cross, put together a steady 42-run partnership over 15 overs to give Scotland something to build on.
Harmeet Singh finally broke the stand in the 30th over, trapping Cross with a fuller turning delivery that gripped the splice and ballooned towards point. Ugarkar then returned with increased venom and delivered a decisive double strike. First, he had Michael Leask caught plumb in front. A couple of overs later, he dismissed Jack Jarvis with an awkward length ball that climbed sharply, with Milind Kumar diving forward at short cover to complete a sharp catch. With Ugarkar’s two wickets, Scotland slumped to 122 for 8.
Watt shifted gears to keep Scotland alive, striking more aggressively against the USA spinners in a bid to push the total towards respectability. But just as Scotland looked capable of adding more, Ugarkar came back once more and ended Watt’s determined stay. In the end, Scotland were bowled out for 169, a total that looked below par against a stacked USA batting line-up.
USA’s chase began in emphatic fashion. Shayan Jahangir and Smit Patel nearly blew the game open during the powerplay with a rapid half-century opening stand. Smit—one of the standout performers on the Nepal tour, following a hundred in the tour match and back-to-back ODI fifties—continued to pile on pressure. He punished an erratic McMullen by smashing three boundaries in a single over to get the chase rolling.
At the other end, Shayan immediately attacked Safyaan Sharif, launching a powerful pull over square leg, and then followed it up with consecutive boundaries. The blitz put one of Scotland’s key wicket-taking threats under pressure early. Oliver Davidson eventually ended Shayan’s momentum, dismissing him for a quick 37. Mark Watt briefly revived Scotland’s hopes when Smit was caught out in a tame fashion behind the stumps for 37 off a ball that looked begging to be put away.
Former Sri Lanka international Shehan Jayasuriya then showed his class against spin, unveiling a couple of improvised shots against Davidson and carrying on from where he had left off earlier in the tour after his half-century against Nepal’s spin attack. However, a messy mix-up involving captain Sai Teja Mukkamalla brought Jayasuriya’s stay to an early end and provided Scotland a momentary opening.
That opening, though, proved brief. Mukkamalla and Milind Kumar ensured USA never allowed Scotland even the faintest chance of clawing back the contest. The pair paced the chase calmly, keeping the bowlers under control. While Milind moved along without fuss, Mukkamalla ultimately fell 13 runs short of the target, but by then the result was already effectively decided as USA reached the finish line comfortably and handed Scotland a comprehensive defeat.
Brief scores: Scotland 169 in 43.3 overs (Mark Watt 66; Rushil Ugarkar 4-48, Saurabh Netravalkar 3-19) lost to USA 170/4 in 27.1 overs (Shayan Jahangir 37, Smit Patel 37) by 6 wickets.
