T20 World Cup 2021 | Scotland on cusp of entering Super 12s stage with 17-run win over Papua New Guinea
After Scotland registered their second consecutive win in the Group B Round 1 matches against Papua New Guinea at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground on Tuesday, team's captain Kyle Coetzer hailed Matthew Cross and Richie Berrington for their crucial innings. Scotland had defeated Bangladesh on Sunday.
After opting to bat first, Scotland lost two early wickets in the form of their openers George Munsey (15) and captain Kyle Coetzer (6).
It was then that a 92-run partnership for the third wicket brewed between Matthew Cross (45 off 36) and Richie Berrington (70 off 49). Cross departed in the 15th over but Berrington continued his onslaught to Scotland past 150 before returning back to the pavilion on the fourth ball of the 19th over. As many as four wickets fells in the last eight balls as Scotland ended their innings at 165 for 9 in 20 overs.
Papua New Guinea choked early in the innings five wickets for 35 runs in six overs. Norman Vanua (47) and Kiplin Doriga (18) provided some resistance but that could never be enough as Assad Vala's team fell 17 runs short of the target.
With two wins in two matches in Group B Round 1, Scotland who handed Bangaldesh a shock defeat in their previous encounter, are on the cusp of qulifying for the Super 12 stage. They are currently the table-toppers in the Group B. Reflecting on the win, Kyle Coetzer explained why he opted to bat first after winning the toss. He also praised Cross and Berrington for their crucial knocks.
"I think it (deciding to bat) is probably on how PNG play the game. We also like to bat first in most of our T20s in this part of the world. But we knew PNG with their attack could really squeeze us in the second half if they got a score on the board, that's why we thought better to put a score on the board and put them under pressure. Getting the win was most impressive. I feel PNG put us under pressure in the second half of the innings. We also lost wickets at the top in our innings and then pulled it back through excellent innings from Berrington and Cross," he said.
Man of the Match Richie Berrington also talked about his knock and reckoned that spending time in the middle was important before playing the shots.
"I think it takes some time to get going on that wicket. They bowled well. Thankful that we got just over par on that wicket. We wanted to give ourselves some time. And then in the back end thankfully we got that partnership. I try to hit it down the ground and leave the funky shots to others," Berrington said after the match.
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