When Scotland made it to their first World Cup in 1999, their debut match against Australia sparked a pair of historic streaks. Unfortunately, the Saltires were on the wrong side of them both.
The second one: a 17-year, 23-match winless run in ODIs against Test nations. The skies opened up on this day too, but long after Kyle Coetzer played what he regards as his finest knock for Scotland, scoring 109 off 101 balls to get his country off the schneid to lead them past Zimbabwe by 26 runs on D-L.
On a pristine wicket, Coetzer made sure not to waste the opportunity in front of him, by opting to bat first after winning the toss. He vindicated that choice with a breezy, even-paced knock, taking 44 balls to bring up his half-century and then another 44 to get to three figures, striking 13 fours and two sixes along the way.
Coetzer anchored the Scotland innings until the 40th over before giving way to Craig Wallace and Michael Leask, who each scored half-centuries as the hosts ransacked the Zimbabwe bowling unit for 101 runs off the final ten overs. The middle-order pair ensured the foundation laid by Coetzer didn't go to waste before Scotland's bowlers successfully defended the total.
Coetzer and his opening partner, Matthew Cross, were kept under wraps in the first 15 minutes of play by the disciplined lines from new-ball pair Tendai Chatara and Richard Ngarava, and tenacious fielding in the inner ring. Ngarava also beat Coetzer for pace on an attempted pull and zinged the Scotland captain in the side of the helmet. Rather than go deeper into a shell, Coetzer and Cross countered with their own aggression. It peaked in the seventh over when Coetzer cut Chatara for four off the second ball, then gave the bowler whiplash by driving him back over his head for a six and two fours down the ground, seizing momentum for Scotland that they never relinquished in the innings.
2 Number of times Scotland have had a batsman score a century and a bowler take five wickets in the same match, both resulting in a win. Coetzer's century in this match was followed in the field by Con de Lange's 5 for 60. The other instance was
against Ireland in 2014, when Majid Haq took 5 for 54 before Calum MacLeod's 116 not out clinched an eight-wicket victory.
11 Number of times an Associate has beaten a Test nation in their maiden ODI facing each other. Scotland's defeat of Zimbabwe took place six days after Afghanistan beat West Indies in their first ever encounter, in St Lucia. The others are Sri Lanka (v India, 1979 World Cup), Zimbabwe twice (v Australia, 1979 World Cup; v England, 1992 World Cup), Kenya (v West Indies, 1996 World Cup), Canada (v Bangladesh, 2003 World Cup), Ireland twice (v Pakistan, 2007 World Cup; v Bangladesh, 2007 World Cup), Netherlands (v Bangladesh, 2010), and Afghanistan (v Bangladesh, 2014 Asia Cup).
"We've taken a little bit longer than other teams have, but we hope we could still keep on challenging and maybe play some of the other Test-ranked teams. It's definitely made a statement today." - Kyle Coetzer