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SCO
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Matthew Henry Cross Jersy

Matthew Henry Cross

Team flagSCO31 yrs
batting styleWicketKeeper Batter
#92 Batter in T20I
Cricket Scotland announces squad for home tri-series, Richie Berrington set to lead

Akash Saini ∙ 27 June 2022

Cricket Scotland announces squad for home tri-series, Richie Berrington set to lead

Cricket Scotland will host Namibia and Nepal in a tri-nation series in July. The series will serve as the 14th round of the ongoing 2019-2023 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 tournament.

T20 World Cup | SCO vs NAM: Entering WC after 18 years, Namibia look to leave a mark

Somya Kapoor ∙ 26 Oct 2021

T20 World Cup | SCO vs NAM: Entering WC after 18 years, Namibia look to leave a mark

It took a blink of an eye for Scotland to surrender against Afghanistan in their last fixture in the T20 World Cup. The Scotland batting line up was just rattled by the Afghan spinners, Mujeeb and Rashid as the two shared a total of 9 wickets out of the ten. Well, the side can’t really do much about that dismal performance and can only move forward. Captain Kyle Coetzer had also stated that the side needs to keep the faith in the players. “We have a great bunch of players and belief in the side. Belief among the players is key. It's not like we'll be locked up in separate rooms. We'll come together in the hotel. We have to keep moving forward,” Coetzer said post the game against Afghanistan. They will now up against Namibia on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi. Namibia probably emerged as a surprise package during the preliminary round after they defeated Netherlands and Ireland (A team with the Test status) to march in the Super 12s. While they were delighted to make it through to the next phase of the global tournament, the way they clinched victories against the two sides was just impeccable. The Gerhard Erasmus first defeated Netherlands by 6 wickets and then Ireland by 8 wickets respectively to leave an impression that they were up for the bigger challenges. Match Details Match: SCO vs NAM, 21st Match, Super 12 Group 2, ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2021 Date: Wednesday, October 27, 2021 Time: 7:30 PM Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Telecast: Star Sports Network, Disney+ Hotstar Pitch Report The tracks in Abu Dhabi have generally favoured the team batting second in this tournament. Barring the clash between Sri Lanka and Ireland, the sides chasing a target have been successful so far in the competition. Moreover, the venue isn’t alien to Namibia as they played against Netherlands in Abu Dhabi and clinched a comfortable win in the end. The bowlers might get some aid from the track in the early stage. So, if you win the toss, bowl first. The only way is to move forward for Scotland Scotland suffered a major batting collapse against Afghanistan in the previous game, a performance that would haunt them for some time. But now the only way to overcome that disappointment is by turning the fortunes for themselves. A lot would depend upon opener George Munsey, captain Coetzer and middle-order batsman Richie Berrington. Munsey and Coetzer have enough experience of playing T20 cricket and the team would want them to provide a steady start to the side. Berrington who has scored runs for the team in this tournament will have to capitalise on the starts provided by the two openers. Apart from this, the bowlers too need to keep a check on opponents’ scoring-rate, a trick that they missed out in the last match. Perfect bid from Namibia on David Wiese Namibia have certainly made a fine bid after David Wiese joined the side and has provided the resistance and stability. Wiese has been instrumental in winning some important matches for Namibia especially the last two where he anchored the side to important wins. While he scored a brilliant half-century against Netherlands, the right-hander held the fort at the other end against Ireland as captain Erasmus did the hard task. The combination of Erasmus and Wiese can be a formidable one. Probable XI Scotland: George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer (c), Matthew Cross (wk), Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Josh Davey, Safyaan Sharif, Bradley Wheal Namibia: Zane Green (wk), Craig Williams, Michael van Lingen, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Pikky Ya France, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz Fantasy XI Matthew Cross, Kyle Coetzer, George Munsey, Calum MacLeod, Gerhard Erasmus, David Wiese (C), Richie Berrington (VC), JJ Smit, Safyaan Sharif, Josh Davey, Bernard Scholtz

World T20 2021: Scotland lose six wickets in final two overs against PNG

Somya Kapoor ∙ 19 Oct 2021

World T20 2021: Scotland lose six wickets in final two overs against PNG

PNG made a fine return against Scotland with the ball during the World T20 2021 match in Al Amerat on Tuesday after they scalped six wickets in the final two overs. Batting first, Scotland lost a couple of early wickets and were reduced to 26/2 when Cross and Berrington joined hands to provide the resistance to the side. The two batsmen compiled a partnership of 92 runs for the third wicket before Cross was dismissed for 45 off 36. Berrington on the other hand went on to score a 49-ball 70 that included three maximums and six fours during the course. The right-hander also stitched a stand of 33 runs with MacLeod for the fourth wicket but the latter’s dismissal broke the shackles and PNG were back in the game as Scotland saw a flurry of wickets in quick succession. They were reduced to 165/7 to eventually get restricted to 165/9 in 20 overs. Kabua Morea picked up a total of four wickets at the cost of 31 runs in 4 overs while Chad Soper had three scalps to his name for 24 runs in 4 overs. Simon Atai returned with figures of 1/20 in three overs. Scotland who have a win under their belt in the competition lost four wickets in the final over of the innings.

SCO vs ZIM | Déjà vu at Grange as Richard Ngarava, Wellington Masakadza defend 136 for Zimbabwe

Abhishek Singh ∙ 17 Sep 2021

SCO vs ZIM | Déjà vu at Grange as Richard Ngarava, Wellington Masakadza defend 136 for Zimbabwe

It was a situation of déjà vu at the Grange Cricket Club ground in Edinburgh, Scotland as Zimbabwe went on to defend a paltry total of 136 against Scotland to win the second T20I and level the three-match series 1-1 having lost the first game in a similar fashion on Wednesday, September 15. In the last match, Zimbabwe were cruising at 112-4 in the 17th over 30 required to win the game from 21 balls and Sean Williams and Milton Shumba batting on 28 each before something got to Williams and he played it straight to the fielder. Guess what happened in this game? Hero from the last match for Scotland, Richie Berrington and Matthew Cross were cruising the Scottish team to a win with only 45 runs needed from 36 balls. Berrington, however, decided to launch Willaims over the cow corner, eventually getting caught at deep square leg by Wesley Madhevere, providing that little window of opportunity for the Zimbabweans to sneak and snuck they did. Post the Berrington wicket, there was still hope as Cross developed a decent partnership with new batter Michael Leask and courtesy of that 19 run stand, Scotland needed 27 from the last three. What happens, just the way Luke Jongwe was caught in the first game at fine leg when the Chevrons needed 17 from 10 balls. After Cross’ dismissal, everything depended on Leask and by hitting a six off Jongwe’s fifth delivery and ultimately bringing the equation down to 17 from 12 balls, he harboured confidence of some 400 odd supporters gathered at the ground. Leask was also offered a lease as he was dropped on the very first ball of the nineteenth over bowled by Richard Ngrava. Even after the drop catch and two runs off the first ball, the men in blue could only get four runs from one of the best penultimate overs delivered at the Grange. With 13 needed from the last over, the ball was handed to Wellington Masakadza and he delivered on the faith getting Shaffian Sharf off the very first ball and putting pressure on Leask. The 30-year-old all-rounder ran mark Watt out on the second ball to get to the crease for the last four balls. However, it was to no avail as Leask himself got out on the third ball trying to hit it out of the park and eventually holing out to Williams at long-on. The last wicket was once again a run out on the fourth ball where numbers 10 and eleven tried to run two runs and a rocket throw from Madhevere saw the end of Alasdair Evans. Thus with four wickets and only two runs coming from the last over, Zimbabwe took the game by 10 runs. Earlier in the day, having won the toss and decided to bat first, the men in red and gold didn’t have a great start and were reduced to 20-3 in the first three overs before skipper Craig Ervine and Willaims stitched together a 71 run stand which was broken after Ervine was removed by Leask. Shumba, the lone ranger from the last game didn’t last long in this one and Zimbabwe were 94-5 with 26 balls still to go. Williams, who was joined by Ryan Burl on the crease, reached only his seventh fifty on T20I cricket in his 49th match as he also crossed the milestone of 1000 T20I runs and became only the second Zimbabwean after Hamilton Masakadza to score more than 1000 runs in all three formats of the game. Together with Burl, he added 42 runs for the sixth wicket to get Zimbabwe to 136 at the end of 20 overs. With the ball, Zimbabwe had a great start once again as they reduced Scotland to 16-4 in the first four overs itself before Berrington and Cross got together. The two teams will now meet for one last tie in the series on Sunday for the third and final T20I, which would also be played at the Grange.