An astonishing day at Mannofield. Seventeen wickets fell on a pitch which offered hope but no great assistance to the bowlers and somehow Scotland find themselves in a winning position after the first day of the Intercontinental Cup match against Canada.
What should have been a day for patience turned into a charge towards mediocrity.
Batting first after winning the toss and being dismissed for just 185 should have put the home side out of the game. But Scotland raced back into contention with a determined bowling performance, aided by some truly dreadful batting, to finish the day with every expectation of holding a potentially match-winning lead.
Only captain Gordon Drummond and wicketkeeper Simon Smith showed the bloody-mindedness required to blunt an impressive attack in which Khurram Choham shone with six for 37. But it should not have needed a ninth-wicket partnership between the stand-in captain and the new wicketkeeper to rescue the national team.
Canada’s bowling is strong, with pace and spin in a team with nine players of Asian descent. But they were made to look more than impressive as Scotland forgot the basics of four-day cricket.
The early dismissal of opener Moneeb Iqbal brought former captain Ryan Watson to the crease and, in partnership with Fraser Watts, the veteran pair put Canada's vaunted bowling attack to the sword.
The score was scampering along, but the pair had taken the score to 41 before Watts nicked a delivery from the strapping pace bowler Henry Osinde and was caught behind.
The wicket prompted a flurry of dismissals, with too many batsmen chasing wide deliveries and paying the price on a pitch which groundsman Ken McCurdie, who had nicknamed the strip his Naughty Boy wicket, had promised early assistance to the bowlers before flattening out.
Under a baking sun, too many of the Scotland batsmen were not content to play the good ball and wait for their scoring opportunities.
The feast of 50 and 20-over cricket throughout the summer had taken a heavy toll on the mindset.
Be aggressive, yes, and take the game to the bowlers. But some of the batting bordered on the brainless.
At lunch only 26 overs had been bowled and Scotland had limped to 81 for six, with Stoneywood-Dyce batsman Jan Stander perhaps the only one to have cause for complaint for his dismissal, given out leg before wicket to a ball which looked to be sailing over the stumps.
At 102 for eight, shortly after the interval, things looked dire for the Scots. But Drummond and Smith did well in a partnership of more than 80 which at least brought a measure of respectability. It was no more than a plaster covering a gaping wound, though.
Players of the experience of Kyle Coetzer, Dewald Nel, Navdeep Poonia, Glenn Rogers, Craig Wright, Colin Smith, Gordon Goudie and John Blain are not available for a myriad of reasons – many of them nothing to do with ability – and the new crop fluffed the lines and failed the first test.
With such a paltry total to defend and the weather set fair, it was essential the Scotland bowlers made inroads – and quickly.
Canadian openers Geoff Barnett and Sandeep Jyoti had taken the score to 19 with little incident before Stander, opening the bowling in partnership with Calum MacLeod, drew a leading edge from Jyoti and the catch was taken by Watts.
The second wicket fell quickly and Scotland had a sniff, with a fragile Canadian batting line-up suddenly exposed.
Stander, making his first-class debut and seething after his first-ball dismissal, raced in to set the tempo. It was a surge the Canadians were unable to cope with and at stumps, with their score having limped to 108 for seven, there is much to be done.
A lead of around 50 will be decisive. If Scotland can remember how to bat in the longer version of the game, then they will win. More of the same again today, and the result is anyone's guess.