STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsThe first upset of the 2021 edition of the World Cup was witnessed on the first day itself. After Oman drubbed Papua New Guinea in the first match of this edition. Scotland gave a big upset to Bangladesh in their encounter in the second match. Mind you, Bangladesh had defeated Australia 4-1 and New Zealand 3-2 in their recent home series. Irrespective of their record, Scotland made a sensational come-back to win this match.
After being sent to bat first, Scotland suffered early setbacks and saw themselves reeling at 53/6. But, Chris Greaves put on a spirited effort by scoring 45 off 28 to resurrect Scotland’s innings. He was equally supported by Mark Watt in a 51-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Thanks to their seventh wicket partnership, Scotland posted a total of 140, giving their bowlers something to defend.
In reply, the Scottish bowlers were on the money from the word-go. They managed to restrict Bangladesh to just 25 runs in the first six over with two wickets. There on, it was up to the most experienced pair of Bangladesh – Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan – to rebuild the innings. Once again, tight bowling from Scotland bowlers prevented Bangladesh batters from scoring freely. The pressure of the required run rate saw Bangladesh crumble in the later half of their chase. In the end, they fell short by six runs and handed Scotland a win, their second against Bangladesh in T20Is. There were few notable stats from the second match and here is a list of few:
Shakib at the summit of bowlers
Bangladesh's best is now the world’s best. Shakib Al Hasan, the leader of the wicket-list for Bangladesh in every format of the game now leads the bowlers in T20Is. In his match against Scotland, with the wicket of Richie Berrington equaled Lasith Malinga’s record of 107 wickets and two balls later, with wicket of Michael Leask, he went past the Sri Lankan maestro to be crowned as the king among bowlers. He also registered his 600th International wicket and became the 23rd bowler to achieve this feat.
A slow start
Unlike the pitches they batted in their home series earlier, the surface in Al Amerat was good one to bat. However, Bangladesh batsmen made a mess out of it. Soumya Sarkar perished in the second over of the innings and Liton Das who has averaged 8.9 in nine innings this year, continued his poor form. Neither Mushfiqur nor Shakib could score runs quickly and saw their team post only 25 runs in the first six overs. This is the lowest they have posted in a T20 WC match in this phase. Their previous lowest came against Australia in 2010 when they posted 27 runs for the loss of four wickets.
An all-round performance of highest caliber
In dire situations, Greaves produced one of the finest all-round performances for Scotland in their T20I history. His innings wasn’t a run fest, he just scored 45 runs in 28 deliveries. But, the impact of those 45 runs is what matters the most. It didn’t stop there, the evening for Greaves got even better when he picked up the wicket of Shakib in his first delivery and followed it up with the wicket of Mushfiqur in his second over. Scoring 40+ runs batting at seven and two crucial wickets with ball in hand, he became only the second player to score 40+ runs batting six or lower and pick up two or more wickets in a T20 WC match. Albie Morkel in 2007 against England is the other one to achieve it.
A spell to remember for Brad Wheal
There were very few moments where the Scottish bowler erred in this match and that is the reason why they defended 140. Among the hunting pack, Brad Wheal was the alpha with three for 24 runs in his full quota of four overs. He became the second Scottish bowler to bag three wickets in T20 WC after Craig Wright in 2009 against Pakistan. However, Wheal conceded less than Wright (3/27), making his spell the best.
Rising from the ashes like a phoenix
At one stage of the match, Scotland looked like they were done and dusted when they were lurching at 53/6 at the 12th over mark. But, a 51-runs partnership for the seventh wicket helped them post 140/9 and their bowlers did the rest. This is the lowest score for a team at the loss of six wickets to win a match in a T20 WC match. England against Afghanistan in 2016 were six down for 57 and ended up posting 142 to win the match in Delhi.
