The Canadian Intercontinental Cup match against Bermuda was a flowing match, with many changes of control and was very interesting throughout. Judging from the first day against Scotland, this will not be that type of match. Scotland took control early and kept it all day, and Canada have some serious work ahead of them to keep this from turning into a laugher.

Scotland won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that looked flat and absolutely full of runs. Their batsmen looked to bat patiently under ideal batting conditions. Fraser Watts and Dougie Lockhart made a good start to the innings, but Canada got a boost when Eion Katchay trapped Watts leg before wicket with the score on 21. Unfortunately for Canada, that was the only joy they felt for a long time.

Qasim Sheikh joined Lockhart and together they built a masterful partnership that would put Scotland firmly in control of this match. They batted out the remainder of the morning, and continued all through the afternoon session without offering so much as a chance for the Canadian fielders. Canadian captain Qaiser Ali tried all his options, using 8 different bowlers looking to get a breakthrough, but to no avail.

Lockhart was the first to reach his half-century, reaching that mark in a patient 177 minutes, while facing 132 balls. Ali also crossed the 50 barrier in the afternoon session, off of 131 balls and in 148 minutes. Both men stroked 5 boundaries in reaching their fifties. Scotland reached 168 for just a single wicket at the tea interval, having faced 64 overs from the Canadian bowlers.

The breakthrough finally came shortly after tea. Sami Faridi had been getting carted by both batsmen, but he got his revenge when he got a ball to turn across the body of Qasim Sheikh. He tried to turn it to the leg side, but got only a fine edge that wicketkeeper Rustam Bhatti gobbled up. Sheikh was gone for 92, quite unlucky not to make a century after batting very well. He faced 194 balls in all, and spent 194 minutes at the wicket. The second wicket partnership lasted 57.1 overs and added 173 runs to the Scottish tally.

The driving force behind the Scotland innings was Dougie Lockhart. He batted through the day and partnered well with all the other batsmen. He made a spectacularly controlled century, facing 211 balls and taking 285 minutes at the wicket to reach triple digits. His first 100 included 10 boundaries, and no chances given to Canadian fielders. After Richie Berrington came and went for 17, Neil McCallum joined Lockhart and batted out the remaining overs with no troubles. They guided Scotland to 286 for 3 from the 96 overs bowled on the opening day, with Lockhart on 126 and McCallum on 30 runs.

Canada’s bowling was really better than the figures indicate, but it wasn’t anything special. They didn’t get much help from the pitch and didn’t help themselves by consistently overpitching deliveries and being punished by the strong batting. Eion Katchay was the best of the lot, returning figures of 22-7-42-1. Shakir Mohammed and Sami Faridi also took a wicket each, conceding 55 and 73 runs, respectively. Sunil Dhaniram wasn’t used as frequently as he was against Bermuda, likely owing to a lack of movement in the pitch, he gave up 36 runs in 10 overs of work, and didn’t take a wicket.

So there is a big task ahead of Canada, and Scotland will feel very good about their position. They may look to bat out all day tomorrow, post a massive total, and look to bowl out Canada twice for the win. We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow. In any case, it’s very much advantage: Scotland.