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- Oct 19, 2021
- 4 min read

ICC World T20 2021 – Round 1, Group B, Sco vs PNG – Berrington’s 70, Davey’s 4-18 help Scotland win

Berrington's 70, Davey's 4/18 take Scotland a step closer to qualify for Super 12

Scotland 165 for 9 (Berrington 70, Morea 31/4) beat Papua New Guinea 148 all-out (Vanua 47, Davey 18/4)

ICC World T20 2021 – Round 1, Group B, Sco vs PNG – Berrington’s 70, Davey’s 4-18 help Scotland win

Scotland on the verge of qualifying for the Super 12. (©ICC/GettyI mages)

The fifth match of the first round under group B of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 was played between Scotland and Papua New Guinea at Al Amerat in Muscat.

Scotland skipper Kyle Coetzer won the toss and opted to bat first.

Scotland openers fell early in innings

Scotland skipper Kyle Coetzer and George Munsey opened the batting for Scotland. Both openers started hitting boundaries from the first over of the innings only.

However, left-arm medium-pacer Kabua Morea clean bowled Scottish skipper Coetzer by a beautiful slower delivery early in the innings. In the next over, medium-pacer Chad Soper bagged the wicket of Munsey on 15, as the batter miscued a shot towards deep square leg, which was caught by Lega Siaks.

Munsey was the highest run-scorer for Scotland in the T20 World Qualifier 2019/20, however, he hasn’t been able to score many runs in this T20 World Cup campaign so far.

Matthew Cross and Richie Berrington added 92 runs to push-back opponents

Next batters Matthew Cross and Richie Berrington played sensibly before starting to play their shots in the middle overs. Both players scored 14 runs off the over of Charles Amini and 18 runs off the over of Nosaina Pokana, to push their side above 100 in just 13 overs.

They compiled a partnership of 92 runs for the third wicket, to rescue their team from trouble.

Cross got out while playing another shot towards mid-wicket, which found the fielder Charles Amini stationed there to pouch the catch. He made 45 runs off just 36 balls with the help of two fours and two sixes. However, his partner Berrington continued to play his powerful strokes.

Berrington and new batter Calum Macleod hammered three boundaries off Morea to score 15 runs in the sixteenth over. Berrington completed his fifty in the same over in only 37 deliveries.

Morea and Soper stopped Scotland below 170 by taking six wickets

Nosaina Pokana bowled an economical 18th over. This forced Macleod to play a stroke to a short delivery in the next over but it took the top edge of the bat and went straight in the hands of Kabua Morea.

Berrington pulled a shot delivery of Chad Soper but Charles Amini caught it at deep mid-wicket. He scored an entertaining knock of 70 runs off 49 balls, studded with six boundaries and three sixes. Morea took four wickets in the final over of the innings and halted Scotland on 165 in 20 overs.

Miserable start of the chase from PNG

Tony Ura and Lega Siaka opened the innings for PNG. Scottish pacer Josh Davey bowled out Tony Ura as the ball took the inside edge of the bat and crashed onto the stumps.

His partner Lega Siaka smashed an elegant four by walking down the wicket towards mid-wicket, although he got out by edging behind the wicket, to wicketkeeper Matthew Cross in the same over.

PNG skipper Asad Wala clobbered two back-to-back boundaries off Alasdair Evans but he got a leading-edge on the next ball which was caught by Bradley Wheal at covers.

Wickets continued to tumble

The middle order of PNG also faltered after the top-order returned to the pavilion early in the innings. Charles Amini got run out on 1, while Simon Atai slashed a ball to point but Berrington put in a sensational effort to grab the ball with a dive and sent him back to the dugout on 2. Sese Bau played some shots before leg-spinner Chris Greaves took his wicket with a googly on 24.

Normal Vanua put life in the chase with quickfire 47 but Scotland snatched the victory

Lower-order batter Norman Vanua played some fine attacking strokes to get some boundaries. He smoked two mammoth sixes off Bradley Wheal to collect 18 runs in the 15th over of the innings whereas his partner Kiplin Georgia scored 16 runs in the next over bowled by Greaves.

However, Georgia got stumped by wicketkeeper Cross on 18. Vanua and Georgia added 53 runs for the seventh wicket to put some life in the chase.

Vanua got caught by Cross behind the wicket as he played a misintuitive pull which led the ball to rest in the gloves of the keeper. He made 47 runs off 37 runs balls comprising of two fours and two sixes. As Vanua went to the dugout, PNG looked near to their defeat.

Chad Soper played few shots before getting out in the final over which concluded the innings of PNG on 148. Thus, Scotland won their straight second match in the first round of the T20 World Cup by 17 runs.

First Round Group A and B Points Table

What Lies Ahead

Scotland will play their last game in the first round against co-hosts Oman on Thursday while losing team Papua New Guinea will take on Bangladesh on the same day.