T20 World Cup 2021: Scotland look to keep winning momentum against Papua New Guinea

Chris
Greaves’ magnificent
all-round
display,
that
saw
him
hit
a
45
off
28
deliveries
before
snaring
two
crucial
wickets,
helped
Scotland
notch
a
six-run
victory
over
Bangladesh
in
their
opening
clash.

Meanwhile,
debutants
Papua
New
Guinea
were
handed
a
10-wicket
thrashing
by
co-hosts
Oman
in
the
tournament
opener.

Scotland
were
in
a
spot
of
bother
at
53
for
six
before
Greaves
led
a
brilliant
lower-order
fightback,
stitching
vital
partnerships
with
Mark
Wyatt
(51
runs)
and
Josh
Davey
(27
runs)
to
help
his
side
set
a
respectable
target.

The
batting
collapse
up
front
will
be
a
cause
of
concern
for
the
Scots,
four
batters
at
the
top
failed
to
go
beyond
the
five-run
mark
with
captain
Kyle
Coetzer
and
Michael
Leask
scoring
ducks.
They
would
need
to
take
more
responsibility
going
ahead.

The
bowlers
did
well
to
keep
the
pressure
on
the
opposition
from
the
beginning
and
wickets
at
regular
intervals
sealed
a
memorable
victory
for
the
Scots
in
the
end.

However,
despite
ending
on
the
winning
side
skipper
Coetzer
conceded
that
the
side
is
capable
of
better
performances.

“We
understand
that
we
have
to
play
extremely
well
to
beat
sides.
We
certainly
didn’t
play
to
our
full
potential,”
Coetzer
said.

A
win
on
Tuesday
(October
19)
will
put
Scotland
in
strong
position
to
head
to
the
Super
12s
stage.

On
the
other
hand,
Papua
New
Guinea,
who
were
hoping
to
end
their
12-match
losing
streak
in
white
ball
cricket,
were
completely
outplayed
in
all
departments.

Going
ahead,
not
only
will
they
have
to
win
against
Scotland
they
will
also
look
to
improve
their
net
run
rate
which
currently
stands
at
-3.135.

The
side
will
need
to
do
some
serious
thinking
ahead
of
the
next
game.

Barring
skipper
Assad
Vala,
who
hit
a
half
century
and
Charles
Amini’s
(37),
the
PNG
batters
struggled
and
were
guilty
of
giving
away
their
wickets
in
clusters.

It
wasn’t
a
great
outing
for
the
bowling
unit
either,
the
skipper
used
seven
bowlers
but
none
could
trouble
the
opposition.
They
will
have
to
regroup
fast.

Looking
ahead,
Vala
said
“We
just
need
to
focus
on
ourselves
and
not
worry
about
Scotland
and
Bangladesh
at
the
moment,
because
it
was
down
to
us
that
we
didn’t
do
well
today
because
we
didn’t
execute
our
plans.”

Teams
(from):

Scotland:
Kyle
Coetzer
(captain),
Richard
Berrington,
Dylan
Budge,
Matthew
Cross
(wk),
Josh
Davey,
Ally
Evans,
Chris
Greaves,
Michael
Leask,
Calum
Macleod,
George
Munsey,
Safyaan
Sharif,
Hamza
Tahir,
Craig
Wallace,
Mark
Watt,
Brad
Wheal.

Papua
New
Guinea:
Assad
Vala
(captain),
Charles
Amini,
Lega
Siaka,
Norman
Vanua,
Nosaina
Pokana,
Kipling
Doriga,
Tony
Ura,
Hiri
Hiri,
Gaudi
Toka,
Sese
Bau,
Damien
Ravu,
Kabua
Vagi-Morea,
Simon
Atai,
Jason
Kila,
Chad
Soper,
Jack
Gardner.

Match
starts
at

3:30
PM
IST
on

Tuesday
(October
19)

Live
Channel:
Star
Sports
Network
–
Star
Sports
1
and
Star
Sports
2

Live
Streaming:
Disney+Hotstar
VIP