Scotland's Charlie Cassell breaks all-time ODI record with seven-for on debut
Scotland fast-bowler Charlie Cassell broke the all-time ODI record for best figures on a debut by taking seven wickets for just 21 runs in 5.4 overs against Oman in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 match in Dundee.
The record was previously held by South Africa's Kagiso Rabada for nine years for his 6/16 against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2015. Now, third on the list and the only other bowler with six wickets on ODI debut is West Indies' Fidel Edwards with 6/22 against Zimbabwe in Harare in November 2003.
Cassell got a fortunate call-up to the Scotland squad for the series on July 15 after pacer Chris Sole became unavailable due to personal reasons. He got his debut cap from skipper Richie Berrington before the Oman game. Berrington said when presenting him with his cap:
"You've come back from a huge setback, with that massive injury you had, put you out for a year and a bit. Just to see your resilience coming back, getting back on the park, and just love watching what you do at Forfs [Forfashire], and just the way how you hold yourself is incredible."
Cassell didn't waste a moment to impact the game, taking two wickets off his first two balls - Zeeshan Maqsood was trapped lbw and Ayaan Khan was bowled. He couldn't get a hat-trick but Khalid Kail was caught off his fourth ball.
The pacer dismissed Shoaib Khan in his second over with Pratik Athavale, Mehran Khan and Bilal Khan to follow, all four of them getting out caught. Unable to manage the relentless assault, Oman were bowled out for 91 in 21.4 overs.
Charlie Cassell grew up in Australia
Cassell was born to a Scottish mother and an English father. He spent a lot of his early years in Australia before moving to Scotland, his country of birth, recently. He told Cricket Scotland in June:
“I was born in Aberdeen in 1998 and lived in the UK until around 2005 when the family moved across to Perth in Western Australia. I went to a school called Guildford Grammar and played my club cricket at Guildford Midland from age group teams up until first grade.
"In 2018, I moved over to Sydney and I played for Sydney University Cricket Club. That has been my club back home ever since, while my first season in Scotland was a couple of years ago with Falkland."
At the time of writing, Scotland were cruising in the chase, having scored close to 50 runs in 10 overs for the loss of just two wickets.