ICC World Cup: Moeen Ali ton helps England beat minnows Scotland

ChristchurchRiding on opening batsman Moeen Alis cracking 128 an underfire England notched up their first win in the ongoing cricket World Cup by crushing minnows Scotland by 119 runs in a Group A clash here todaySent into bat England piled on a commanding 303 for 8 courtesy Alis 107ball 128 and his 172run partnership with Ian Bell 54 the best opening stand so far in the tournament and then bundled out Scotland for 184 in 422 overs to taste their first victory after being thrashed by Australia and New Zealand in their earlier matchesEngland batsman Moeen Ali acknowledges the applause after scoring his century against Scotland during their 2015 Cricket World Cup Group A match in Christchurch PicAFPAli later chipped in with two wickets for 47 runs in his quota of 10 overs and along with pacers Steven Finn 326 James Anderson 230 and Chris Woakes 225 rocked the Scotland run chaseChasing a stiff target of 304 Scotland made a disastrous start as they were reduced to 54 for 3 by the 12th over and lost wickets in quick succession twice in the middle overs to lose the plot and the match without any fight In fact Scotland were never a match of their southern neigbours whose slump in form in recent times has led to the talk of a possible upsetIn the end it did not happen and Scotland who gave a tough fight against tournament cohosts New Zealand in their threewicket loss opening match slumped to their second consecutive defeat in the ongoing World CupOpener Kyle Coetzer fought a lone battle for Scotland with a 84ball 71 which included 11 boundaries but none of his batting colleagues rose to the occasion Captain Preston Mommsen 26 Richie Berrington 23 and Majid Haq 15 were the only other batsmen besides Coetzer to reach double figure scoresScotland were sent into the backfoot immediately after the start of their run chase with James Anderson dismissing opener Calum MacLeod for four when the batsman unnecessarily went for an expansive shot to an outswinging delivery only to edge it to wicketkeeper Jos ButtlerOnedown Freddie Coleman and Matt Machan got out in quick succession in the 11th and 12th overs respectively as Scotland stared at a defeat at 54 for three Coetzer and captain Mommsen gave a brief hope for Scotland with a 60run stand for the fourth wicket in 133 overs but it did not last long Mommsen Coetzer and Berrington soon fell in a heap as Scotland were reduced to 128 for 6 in the 29th over from 114 for three in the 26th over Scotland batted along with the writing on the wall very clear before being all out for 184 in the 43rd overEarlier Ali smashed a rollicking 128 as England posted a challenging 303 for 8 in their best batting performance so far in the tournament Ali struck 12 fours and five sixes in his 107ball strokeful innings and shared 172 runs with Bell for the opening wicket to lay a strong foundation for England at the Hagley Oval The 27yearold Ali hit a six off Majid Haq in the 29th over to score his second career century in his 20th ODI before being dismissed in the 35th over off the same bowler hitting straight to Freddie Coleman at deep midwicketAfter Alis dismissal England who were thrashed by Australia and New Zealand in their earlier matches lost Gary Ballance 10 and Joe Root 1 in quick succession From 201 from one England were suddenly reduced to 203 for four in the space of just 10 balls That mini collapse put brakes in the slog overs as England could add 78 runs from the final 10 overs and 48 from the final fiveCaptain Eoin Morgan scored a useful 42ball 46 and shared 49 runs with James Taylor 17 of 26 balls for the fifth wicket to push England for a final assault However England again lost wickets in a heap towards the end with Buttler Morgan and Chris Woakes 1 being dismissed in the space of six balls in the 49th and 50th overs Davey was on a hattrick in the final over but Stuart Broad denied him the honourDavey was the most successful Scotland bowler with figures of 4 for 68 in the match which was held four years and one day after the city was rocked by a devastating earthquake which killed 185 people