Brandon McMullen blasted a maiden ODI century as Scotland boosted their World Cup qualification hopes with an easy 76-run victory over Oman in Bulawayo.
His stunning 136 guarantees the Scots a place in the Super 6 ahead of their final group match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
McMullen’s heroics propelled Scotland to an imposing 320 before the bowlers finished the job though the winning margin would have been even bigger but for a 105-run stand for the seventh wicket between Naseem Khushi (69) and Shoaib Khan (36).
Having reduced their rivals to 120-6, the Saltires had to be content with restricting them to 244-9, Chris Greaves claiming career-best ODI figures of 5-53.
McMullen, who capped a man-of-the-match show with a wicket and three great catches, said: “Getting to my first 100 was a pretty special moment and I hope it’s the first of many.
“It was quite tricky at first because the ball was moving about a bit but I tried to keep it simple and build the innings.
“I like to hit the ball straight and it came off for me.”
3⃣ games ➕ 3⃣ wins 🟰 SUPER SIX 💜🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/hv47E4TIQn
— Cricket Scotland (@CricketScotland) June 25, 2023
Earlier, McMullen shrugged-off the loss of Chris McBride in the first over to compile a steadying 82-run partnership with Matthew Cross (27).
But it was his stand of 138 in 127 balls with Richie Berrington that really accelerated the Scots towards a huge total.
Berrington moved smoothly to 60 and looked capable of adding another three-figure score to his century against UAE until he was run-out.
Instead, it was McMullen, dropped on 17, who went on to be the ton-up hero, reaching the landmark from just 92 balls and going on to make the highest score of any batter in the tournament so far.
He had stroked 14 boundaries and three maximums before being caught going for another clearance.
Late cameos from Tom Mackintosh (32) and Mark Watt (25) carried the Saltires to their winning score.
McMullen added: “I thought our bowlers were clinical and Greavo was incredible.
“Sri Lanka will be another challenge and we’ll probably have to be even more disciplined with the ball and the bat.”
