ABERDONIANS were treated yesterday to a Gavin Hamilton century in all but name. The Scotland batsman's kit mysteriously vanished from the Mannofield dressing room on Tuesday night, forcing him to bear the name of Fraser Watts on his back as he guided Scotland to a five-wicket victory over Ireland with a commanding 115.
The one-time England left-hander from Broxburn led the Scots' pursuit of a target of 211 with considerable élan, passing 50 for the first time since February 2007 after facing just 52 balls, and then sparring his way to three figures. He had already
given the locals something to cherish with an extraordinary catch to remove Andrew White in an Irish innings that saw two Scottish one-day international records achieved in the field.
Dewald Nel bettered Majid Haq's landmark bowling figures of 4-28 against West Indies with a return of 4-25, while local favourite Colin Smith scooped up another individual accolade for his four catches. As much as this was Hamilton's day, and a good one for Scotland, it was a personal shocker for Ryan Watson, who dropped a catch, saw another spilt by Qasim Sheikh off his own bowling and fell for a duck.
Watson left his captaincy open to criticism when he chose to give Nel – who boasted figures of 8-4-17-3 from his first spell – only one more over at the end of the innings. But it's a mark of Scotland's improved outlook that they can win a game with 15 balls to spare without relying on their talisman, and his record suggests he is likely to be back on form today against New Zealand.
Victory over the marauding Black Caps, however unlikely a proposition that may be, would now transplant them onto the main table of the ODI rankings.
"They are about the best side going around in the world right now, but you never say never," said Hamilton, whose brand-new apparel was thrown out by cleaners the previous night.
The 33-year-old, winning his 75th cap, drove the first ball of Scotland's reply through extra cover and ran four after a misfield. The loss of Watson, driving to mid-off, didn't discourage him and he added 70 with Sheikh, who made 23 on his ODI debut, and another 122 with Smith to make the run chase an unusually becalming experience.
Earlier, Nel and John Blain beat the bat repeatedly after the Irish won the toss and batted first, and Ryan Haire's 54 led their recovery from 65-4. They shouldn't have been allowed to reach 200 but, for once, spin was a blunt weapon for the Scots as Glenn Rogers misfired.
