England overcame a nervy start to score a five-wicket win over Scotland at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday evening and stay in contention for a Super 8 spot at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The win helped them climb back to No. 2 in a competitive Group C.
Electing to field first, England restricted Scotland to 152. However, the chase got off to a troubled start as openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler fell in the first two overs. With swing coming into play, Scottish pacers Brandon McMullen and Brad Currie used the new ball well.
England got a move on in the fifth over, notching 16 runs to calm some of the early nerves and end powerplay on 43 for 2. Jacob Bethell and Tom Banton led the rebuild with a 66-run partnership off 45 balls.
After Bethell departed for a well-paced 32, Banton and Sam Curran took charge at the wicket. Curran, who had got a measure of the wicket, picked up a quick 28 while Banton held the innings together with a half-century. He scored and unbeaten 63 off 41 balls and struck four fours and three sixes to help England over the finish line.
“Tough game against WI, full credit to them. Our full focus was on tonight and then on to Italy. T20 cricket is a high-risk game, you have to keep backing yourself, at times it goes against you. Have to keep coming back. When I watch TV in India, it seems to be absolute carnage but there was some spin and a bit of hold in Mumbai. Nice to get some tonight. The pitch was pretty low, and I like to sweep and reverse but my plan was to go as straight as possible, when they miss short put it away. It’s different, when your match-up comes on you’ve got to take it down. The situation dictates how you bat. Today I gave myself a chance and then catch up down the line. Just want to win games, if I’m contributing that’s amazing,” said Tom Banton, who was named the Player of the Match.
Earlier in the day, England made early inroads as Jofra Archer struck with two quick wickets. Though Scotland ticked at a good run rate, they lost a wicket too many and closed out powerplay at 42 for 3.
Scotland clawed their way back with a 71-run partnership between captain Richie Berrington (49) and Tom Bruce (24) for the fourth wicket. However, the two batters departed within the space of four balls, sending their team into a downward spiral. Scotland slipped from 113 for 4 to 127 for 8. Oliver Davidson’s cameo helped Scotland across the 150-mark.
“Thought it was a really good surface to bat on. Difference was partnerships through the middle, we fought back really well, needed one of me or Brucie to go on. We knew spin was going to be key through the middle, but our execution was slightly off. We didn’t quite click in that phase,” said Berrington. “That partnership was good but didn’t go on long enough. Few short but we still had that belief we could put them under pressure. That’s why this one hurt,” he added.
“The whole bowling effort was really good, proud of the fight we showed. Just a few more runs on the board would have been nice. Loved our time here in Kolkata, felt like our Indian home, but we move on to Mumbai and Nepal,” he said.
It was the English spinners that engineered the middle order collapse. Liam Dawson (2/34) and Adil Rashid (3/36) were taken for some runs by Berrington and Bruce early on but returned to haunt the Scots. While Dawson broke the partnership by packing off Bruce, Rashid trapped Berrington leg before wicket one run short of 50. Archer, who had given England the initial breakthrough, finished with 2/24.
“Just glad we got over the line. Absolutely, we were over the moon. They batted well against the spinners in their first spells, but we dragged it back really well. Archer was slamming length, got his lines and lengths perfect and he was bowling gas, so great to see,” said Brooks.
“Banton was awesome, he’s slid in really nicely at No.4 and looked to take down the spinners. He played really nicely. I’ve always got confidence; knew it would be a decent wicket. With the outfield, we didn’t need to take too many risks. When it’s there to be hit for six, hit it for six. Sam’s cameo was really good to see, too. Haven’t quite had the perfect game yet, all been a bit niggly, hopefully we can play our best against Italy and put some smiles on faces back home. Haven’t quite hit our strengths so far, hopefully that comes. Don’t want to hit it too early but got to get through the group stage. Hopefully Italy can be the start of our rise,” he added.
Brief scores: Scotland 152 in 19.4 overs (Michael Jones 33, Richie Berrington 49, Tom Bruce 24, Oliver Davidson 20 not out; Adil Rashid 3/36, Liam Dawson 2/34, Jofra Archer 2/24) lost to England 155 for five in 18.2 overs (Jacob Bethell 32, Tom Banton 63 not out, Sam Curran 28, Will Jacks 16 not out).
