T20 World Cup: Scotland shock West Indies in BICC Group T20 World Cup Men, Blundstone Arena, Hobart Scotland 160-5 (20 overs): Muncie 66* (53), McLeod 23 (14); Holder 2-14, Joseph 2-28 West Indies 118 (18.3 overs): Holder 38 (33); Watt 3-12, Leask 2-15, Wheal 2-32 Scotland won by 42 runs Scorecard; Table
Scotland, ranked 15th in the world, began their Men’s T20 World Cup campaign in brilliant fashion by shocking two-time winners West Indies.
Chasing 161 to win, a mix of terrific batting and disciplined bowling saw the Windies bowled out for 118 to lose by 42 runs in Group B.
Scotland made 160-5 with opener George Munsey hitting an unbeaten 66 off 53 balls.
Zimbabwe beat Ireland by 31 runs in the late Group B match.
“It’s a special win for us,” said Scotland captain Richard Berrington, whose side beat Bangladesh at last year’s World Cup. “A lot of hard work has gone into getting us to this point over the past 12 months.
“I’m extremely proud of the boys for coming out tonight and showing our skills.”
Scotland’s complete shock win over West Indies
The result means West Indies, who are ranked seventh in the world, are likely to have to win both their remaining games to progress.
They face Zimbabwe on Wednesday (09:00 BST), while Scotland take on Ireland (05:00), knowing a win is likely to see them through.
The top two sides from each group will qualify for the Super 12, which starts on October 22. The winner of Group A and the runner-up from Group B will face England.
Scotland get it right while Windies disappoint
Scotsman Berrington hits a ‘huge’ six on the roof
Scotland raced to 52-0 after 5.3 overs – a sharp improvement on their opening positions in last year’s tournament, where their highest score was 33 – before a 45-minute rain delay halted their progress.
The Windies started poorly with the ball, offering too much width, but were much better after the break, hitting the ball effectively down the pitch.
This slowed the scoring rate considerably and also brought the wickets of Matthew Cross and Richard Berrington, both flat-hitting to mid-on and mid-wicket respectively.
Muncie lacked fluency after the delay but stuck with it and reaped the rewards by hitting three boundaries off the final over after hitting his previous one in the fourth over.
There were also strong cameos from Callum McLeod (23 off 14) and Chris Greaves (16 off 11) as Scotland climbed to a defendable but potentially unwinnable total.
As was the case last year, the Windies were miserable with the bat. It felt like it was shot or blocked with minimal ability to spin the shot.
They struggled particularly against the left-arm spin of Mark Watt, who regularly bowled from 24 yards instead of 22, and off-spin Michael Leask, with the pair taking 3-12 and 2-15 respectively while bowling 27 points.
Pace bowler Brad Weale, who was part of the Hampshire team that won the T20 Blast this summer, also played well, taking 2-32.
Scotland were also unerring in the field, including a superb catch from Leask, who raced in from the mid-wicket boundary to dismiss Shamarh Brooks.
T20 World Cup: Leask takes a slip catch as Scotland shock West Indies
Berrington added: “We knew it was a competitive result and I thought the bowlers were outstanding. Spinners have been doing it for us for a long time at key times. They made a great change – it was a great team in all aspects of performance.”
West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran believes 161 was the score his side should have been chasing, saying: “It’s a tough loss for us, we’re disappointed.
“We have to do the hard work now and win two games, it’s all about responsibility now.”
Scotland have only played two T20s since last year’s World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, which makes their victory and the consistency of their skills all the more remarkable.
Batter Callum McLeod said: “There was no big surprise that Namibia won yesterday and we won today – that’s where we are with our cricket. We’ve all been crying out for more opportunities and it would be great to see where some of the associated nations can go if we get invited into the game on occasion.
“Wins at world events are meaningful, they have more to them. Beating Bangladesh last year was a special moment but today was probably a better win – we probably played the better cricket from start to finish and deserved to win.”
Add Comment