| ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Blundstone Arena, Hobart |
| Scotland 160-5 (20 overs): Munsey 66* (53), MacLeod 23 (14); Holder 2-14, Joseph 2-28 |
| West Indies 118 (18.3 overs): holder 38 (33); Watt 3-12, Leak 2-15, Radle 2-32 |
| Scotland won by 42 runs |
| scorecard; table |
Scotland, ranked at No. 15 in the world, started their men’s T20 World Cup campaign brilliantly by shocking two-time winners West Indies.
Chasing 161 to win, a mix of pathetic batting and disciplined bowling, the Windies hit 118 and lost in Group B by 42 runs.
Scotland went 160-5, with opener George Munsey hitting an unbeaten 66 from 53 balls.
Ireland will start the other Group B game against Zimbabwe.
“It’s a special win for us,” said Scotland captain Richard Berrington. “A lot of hard work has gone into getting us to this point over the last 12 months.
“I’m very proud of the guys for going out there tonight and showing our skills.”
The result means West Indies, who are seventh in the world rankings, will likely need to win both remaining games to progress.
They face Zimbabwe on Wednesday (09:00 BST) while Scotland (05:00) take on Ireland knowing a win will likely see them qualify.
The top two teams in each group qualify for the Super 12, which begins on October 22nd. Group A winner and Group B runners-up meet England.
Scotland get it right while Windies disappoint
Scotland raced to 52-0 after 5.3 overs – a significant improvement on their opening standings in last year’s tournament, where their highest score was 33 – before a 45-minute rain delay halted their progress.
Windies started badly with the ball and offered too much width, but improved greatly after the break and slammed the ball down the field effectively.
It slowed the batting rate considerably and also brought the wickets of Matthew Cross and Richard Berrington, since both were hit flat, to mid-on and mid-wicket, respectively.
Munsey lacked fluency after the delay but stuck with it and reaped his rewards when he hit three boundaries from the last over after hitting his previous one in the fourth over.
There were also strong cameos from Callum MacLeod (23 of 14) and Chris Greaves (16 of 11) as Scotland dragged themselves to a defensible but possibly non-game-winning total.
Like last year, Windies were sad with the bat. It felt like it was shot or blocked with minimal ability to turn the shot.
They particularly struggled with Mark Watt’s left arm, who regularly bowled from 24 yards instead of 22, and Michael Leask’s off-spin, with the pair winning 3-12 and 2-15 respectively while bowling 27-point balls .
Pace bowler Brad Wheal, who was part of the Hampshire side that won the T20 Blast this summer, also bowled well, claiming 2-32.
Scotland were also spotless in the field, including a superb catch by Leask, who ran in from the mid-wicket line to sack Shamarh Brooks.
Berrington added, “We knew it was a competitive result and I thought the bowlers were exceptional. The weirdos have been doing it for us at key moments for a long time. They made a great change – it was a great team effort all round.”
West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran believes 161 was a goal his side should have pursued, saying: “It’s a tough defeat for us, we’re disappointed.
“We have to work hard now and win two games, now it’s all about responsibility.”
Scotland have only played two T20s since last year’s World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, making their victory and consistency of skill even more remarkable.
Batter Callum MacLeod said: “It wasn’t a huge surprise Namibia won yesterday and we won today – here we are with our cricket. We’ve all been clamoring for more opportunities and it would be great to see where some of the associated nations could go if we were invited to the game sometimes.
“Winning global events is important, there’s more to it. The win over Bangladesh last year was a special moment but today was probably a better win – we probably played better cricket from start to finish and deserved to win.”
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