Al Amerat, (Samajweekly) Scotland began their men’s T20 World Cup campaign with an upset six-run win over Bangladesh in the second match of the tournament at Al Amerat Cricket Stadium here on Sunday. Scotland used slower balls to good effect while bowling with discipline. In the field, they took their chances and were spot on with their fielding placements.
Chasing 140, Bangladesh made just 25 runs in power-play, losing Soumya Sarkar and Litton Das for five each. Mushfiqur Rahman struck back-to-back sixes over leg-side off Michael Leask in the ninth over to infuse some momentum in the chase. Chris Greaves struck with his first ball of the match as Al Hasan tried to pull but found fielder at deep mid-wicket.
Greaves returned in 14th over to knock over Rahim’s leg stump with a googly sneaking past the attempted scoop. Afif Hossain crunched three boundaries before holing out to deep mid-wicket off Mark Watt in the 18th over. Mahmudullah hit a four and six but, in an attempt, to go big, holed out to long-on off Bradley Wheal.
Mohammad Saifuddin and Mahedi Hasan took three boundaries off Safyaan Sharif in the final over but it wasn’t enough to stop Scotland from sealing a memorable win.
Brief scores: Scotland 140/9 in 20 overs (Chris Greaves 45, George Munsey 29, Mahedi Hasan 3/19, Shakib Al Hasan 2/17) beat Bangladesh (Mushfiqur Rahim 38, Mahmudullah 23, Bradley Wheal 3/24, Chris Greaves 2/19) by six runs.
