Scots bow out with familiar collapse

Scotland coach Jim Love was left pleading for a massive cash injection after watching his side bow out of the World Cup with their fifth straight defeat at the Grange Club, Edinburgh yesterday.

There was no happy ending to the Scottish adventure as New Zealand raced to a six-wicket win to secure their place in the Super Six, in the process ensuring that the West Indies did not make the second stage of the competition.

Love now faces a massive re-building programme as the Scots set their sights on the ICC Trophy in Canada in 2001 when they aim to qualify again for the main event.

That is a challenge Love hopes he must face without his prize asset, Gavin Hamilton, who must surely earn an England call later this summer.

Hamilton failed to match previous heroics yesterday but Love said: ''Gavin has been our best player and I hope he plays for England. The lad deserves it, and it wouldn't do any harm for a Scotsman to be playing for England.''

Nor, according to the coach, would a large financial windfall.

He added: ''We need money to develop otherwise we could stagnate. If we get one-day status we'll have to look at a form of professionalism, but it all hinges on cash.''

Australia's go-slow tactics on Sunday meant that New Zealand needed a quick win to progress to the next stage and they struck it lucky when skipper Stephen Fleming won the toss and inserted Scotland's out of form batsmen.

Having stood by the players who collapsed against West Indies, the selectors were rewarded with the now customary top-order collapse as the dangerous Geoff Allot and Dion Nash extracted maximum movement from white ball.

Mike Smith was first to go in the fourth over with just two runs on the board, frustration getting the better of the Aberdeenshire man, who mis-timed an attempted drive to Chris Cairns at mid-wicket.

With the Scots pinned back, it made sense when George Salmond promoted himself to No.3.

The Scotland captain may not look back on the campaign as a personal success, but he has never lacked the inclination to take the attack to the opposition.

However, the experiment failed when Salmond's wretched luck continued in the form of another controversial umpiring decision.

At Leicester, the Scottish skipper was given out caught behind to a delivery which clearly missed his bat.

Yesterday, Salmond, with his front foot plunged well forward, was struck on the pad by Allot. There was sufficient doubt in umpire Rudi Koertzen's mind for considerable hesitation and Salmond was entitled to expect the benefit. However, up went the South African's finger.

Mike Allingham, having rode his luck for 10 uncomfortable overs, edged Allot to Stephen Fleming at first slip and suddenly the scoreboard told a familiar tale at 15-3.

In similar crises the Scots have had Hamilton to bail them out, and, with Clydesdale's Ian Stanger, mini-repairs were effected in a solid half-century stand.

The former West Lothian all-rounder first drove the erratic Carl Bulfin to the long-on boundary and then punished the same bowler with a flashing drive on the up to raise hopes of another big innings from the Scotland hero.

Alas, the inocuous Nathan Astle tempted a false stroke and Allot pouched an easy catch at mid-on.

However, with another 20 runs to his name, Hamilton confirmed his status as one of the competition's leading batsmen, his aggregate runs exceeding that of any English player.

Stanger, who played with some command, went on to top-score with 27 from 58 balls, but from 66-3, the Scots suddenly found themselves in more trouble at 68-6.

Order was restored by Greig Williamson and Alec Davies, the latter following fine knocks against Pakistan and Bangladesh, with his best yet.

The phlegmatic Davies has a happy knack of dispatching the bad ball, as he demonstrated by stroking a full toss from Allot to the boundary to get off the mark.

However, Williamson, having reached 10, lost concentration immediately after a drinks interval to offer a simple return chance to Chris Harris with the total on 100.

An appalling lbw verdict by Ian Robinson accounted for John Blain next ball, leaving Asim Butt to entertain the capacity Bank Holiday crowd, albeit too briefly, with a couple of lusty clouts, including a big 6 off Astle.

However, by the time Davies was last out for 24, the only question was whether New Zealand could reach a target of 122 within the necessary 21.2 overs to ensure Super Six qualification.

The Kiwis hopes suffered a setback when Blain bowled Matthew Hart with the second ball of the innings and struck again to remove Astle soon after.

However, Roger Twose and Craig McMillan launched a blistering counter-attack to leave the outcome in little doubt, though if the Scottish fielders had clung on to any one of three difficult chances to remove Twose, panic may have set in.

Instead Blain's third wicket and one for Hamilton, typical of Scotland's spirited campaign, offered scant consolation.

A 44-ball half-century for Twose, with one 6 and five boundaries, clinched the Kiwis' progress with 21 balls to spare.

Later Salmond admitted he may review his status as captain.

He said: ''The pressure has been intense over the last five weeks and I've been starting to feel it.

''I definitely want to keep playing for Scotland but if others feel a change in leadership will help, I'll stand by that.''