Australia swat Scotland in tune-up to England ODI series

Australia batsman Shaun Marsh celebrates his 150 during the One Day International between Scotland and Australia at the Grange on September 3, 2013 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Australia, powered by centuries from openers Shaun Marsh and Aaron Finch, thumped a listless Scotland team by a margin of 200 runs in the only One-Day International against Scotland at Edinburgh.

Batting first in the match, which is a part of warm-up fixtures for the upcoming bilateral series between Australia and England, both the openers Marsh and Finch got off to a slow start with only 37 runs scored by the end of first ten overs.

While Marsh took his time to settle, Finch, who clearly had seen enough of Scotland bowlers, took off to reach to his century off 96 deliveries. He then scored his next 48 runs off just 20 balls, before getting dismissed for a 116-ball 148.

The 246-run stand between Marsh and Finch has become best Australian partnership for the first wicket ever. Marsh, who was on 87 off 115 at the time of dismissal, shifted gears as he ended up with 151 runs off 149 balls to help Australia set a mammoth target of 362.

108 runs were taken off the last 10 overs, with Watson, coming in at number 3 in what appears to be a strategical move to give both Marsh and Finch their best shots, making a quick fire 37 off 24 balls to help the cause.

Scotland, in reply to an improbable task of chasing down 362 runs, found the Australian bowlers too intimidating to handle, thereby losing wickets at regular intervals. They surrendered meekly, all out in 43.5 overs after having scored 162.

Matt Machan top scored with a 59-ball 39 while Mitchell Johnson picked up four wickets for Australia.