T20 World Cup | AFG vs SCO: Mohammad Nabi and co. need to yard out Scotland to begin their campaign
Fresh from historic win, Scotland eye big gains against PNG to confirm Super 12 entry
Chris Greaves, the Amazon delivery guy who drove Scotland to a famous win over Bangladesh
Disciplined Scotland stage first of many upsets in ICC T20 World Cup
Scotland pulled off the first upset of the ICC T20 World cup on the inaugural day of the tournament after clinically defeating Bangladesh by six runs on Sunday, 17 October. Chasing an under-par total of 140 runs in the Al Amerat, Bangladesh faltered under a disciplined performance of Scotland, ably marshalled by Kyle Coetzer. The captain first unleashed his fast bowlers and extracted all the movement he could in the initial overs. It meant that Josh Davey and Bradley Wheal bowled to Bangladeshi batsmen at an attacking length, picking up two wickets within the four overs of the second innings. Things went from bad to worse for the Asian team who were coming on the back off series wins against Australia and Bangladesh after they were choked out by the spin attack halfway through the chase, reeling at 59/2 after 10 overs. With the required run-rate climbing above 8.2, Bangladesh looked to attack the inexperienced Chris Greaves but ended up giving him two wickets in the first ball off his first two overs. With the Tigers down to 80/4 in 14 overs, it was only a matter of time till Scotland sealed the deal. The win was delayed by a little while with Afif Hossain being able to find his range, but before it became a late resurgence, spinner Mark Watt was able to put a lid on it, dismissing Afif when he was at 18 off 11 balls. With the victory more than assured from there on, Scotland picked two more wickets in the penultimate over before eventually choking out Bangladesh for 134 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. One of the big issues for Bangladesh turned out to be the lack of power hitting game, with six players getting out while trying to play attacking shots. This puts a lot of questions on the unit given Bangladesh were the favourites to get into the Super 12 stage among all the eight teams playing the first round. They might still go through, but that does not mean that they will be able to match the likes of India, England and West Indies, despite being full-time members of the ICC. Earlier in the day, Scotland dragged themselves out of trouble after losing their famed top order early in the innings. After losing their first six wickets for just 53 runs inside 12 overs, an incredible rescue work from spin duo Chris Greaves (45 off 28) and Mark Watt (22 off 17) ensured that Scotland had something to defend. Speaking after the game, captain Coetzer took notice of the same and reiterated his belief in the squad that they have come with. The defeat means that Bangladesh will have to win their two remaining games. One of them would be against an impressive Oman, who defeated Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets today. The Bangladesh batting will have to get things in order before the more serious competition comes into play in the Super 12s.
World T20 2021 | BAN vs SCO: Chris Greaves leads resurgence against Bangladesh
Scotland’s Chris Greaves was on a roll during the first World T20 2021 match against Bangladesh in Al Amerat. He first came in for the rescue of his side when they were struggling at 52/5 while batting first in the 11th over and chipped in with a brisk 45 off 28 deliveries in only his second T20I. His knock included a couple of maximums and four fours during the course of his innings. After struggling in the middle overs, Scotland rode on Greaves knock to put 140/9 in 20 overs. Apart from his Mark Wyatt also scored important runs as he put a 17-ball 22. Mahedi Hasan was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh after he took three wickets for 19 in 4 overs. Later, Greaves picked up wickets on the very first delivery of his first two overs and his scalps included the important dismissals of Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan. Greaves had figures of 2/19 after bowling three overs. Bangladesh started off the chase in a dismal manner after losing the openers in early. Shakib and Rahim then stitched a stand of 47 runs for the third wicket but Shakib’s departure pushed Bangladesh on the backfoot.