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Finch and Marsh hammer sorry Scots

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Pulsating centuries from Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh helped Australia claim an emphatic 200-run win over Scotland in their one-day international at Edinburgh.

The tourists showed little mercy to the mostly-amateur Scots as they smashed their way to 362 for three. The hosts could only muster 162 all out in reply as Matt Machan top-scored with 39.

The meeting at the Grange was being used by Darren Lehmann's team - second in the one-day rankings - as a warm-up for their five-match NatWest Series with England that starts on Friday at Headingley.

Having failed to regain the Ashes with a 3-0 defeat before sharing the two Twenty20 internationals that followed, the flagging Aussies were in desperate need of a morale-boosting victory. But defeat was never a prospect as their top-order batsmen simply blew Scotland away.

The tone for victory was set by Finch, who continued on from his record-breaking T20I knock of 156 against England last week by grabbing his maiden ODI ton.

The Victoria batsman struck 14 sixes in his record score versus England last Thursday at the Ageas Bowl and did not slow up today as he sped to 148 from just 116 balls before being caught in the deep by Freddie Coleman off Majid Haq.

The opening pair had put on 246 - an Australia record - and Marsh then took up the scoring responsibilities by pushing beyond Finch's figure to end on 151 when Iain Wardlaw tempted him to slog into Gordon Goudie's grasp.

The same combination accounted for Shane Watson on 37 as the Scots claimed their second wicket in as many balls, but Australia already had 347 on the board.

Michael Clarke and George Bailey batted out the final two overs to set up an improbable run-chase.

Coleman fell for a duck early before Hamish Gardiner went for a single, and Watson ran out Scotland skipper Preston Mommsen for eight.

Machan’s runs and Calum MacLeod’s 24 helped add a touch of respectability to the score before Haq’ 25 eventually prodded Scotland into three figures.

With little to lose, Scotland continued to play their shots and Goudie raised a couple of cheers with two huge sixes en route to 23.

But Mitchell Johnson, who took 4-36, bowled Gordon Drummond for eight to end a painful day for the hosts.


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