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Preview: T20 World Cup: England vs. Scotland – prediction, team news

Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s T20 World Cup match between England and Scotland which is set to take place at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown.

England will begin the defence of their T20 World Cup trophy when they face Scotland at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

To reach the Super Eight stage, England and Scotland will have to finish in the top two of a group which contains Australia, Namibia and Oman.

Match preview

Harry Brook and Jonny Bairstow celebrate England win over Pakistan on May 30, 2024.© Reuters

England are preparing to play their first match at the T20 World Cup since they beat Pakistan by five wickets in the 2022 final at the MCG.

A year after their success in Australia, Jos Buttler‘s men experienced a woeful campaign at the 50-over World Cup in India, finishing in seventh place after winning three and losing six of their nine matches.

Their desperate fortunes in the white-ball game continued with a series of defeats to West Indies in both the 50-over and 20-over format.

After experiencing a disappointing winter, England’s white-ball squad restored some much-needed confidence with a 2-0 win in the recent rain-affected T20 series against Pakistan.

They will now turn their focus to the main competition and the opening game against Scotland at the Kensington Oval – the ground where Paul Collingwood‘s men achieved a seven-wicket triumph against Australia to lift England’s first T20 World Cup in 2010.

Fourteen years later, England will have aspirations of going deep into the tournament after reaching the semi-finals at each of the last three T20 World Cups, but before they look too far ahead, they will focus on getting off to a winning start against Scotland.

Scotland's Chris Greaves in action on July 29, 2022© Reuters

Scotland are preparing to make a third consecutive T20 World Cup appearance after breezing through the European section of qualifying.

They won all six of their qualifiers to finish top of the standings to punch their ticket to the West Indies and the USA alongside Ireland.

Scotland’s main objective would have been to secure qualification, but the shorter format of international cricket throws up more uncertainty and the chance to pull off a surprise or two.

They know that they will most likely have to beat at least one of England or Australia to have any hope of progressing to the Super Eight stage.

Scotland have never previously played England in a competitive T20 game, but they will have fond memories from the last time that they faced off in a 50-over match in 2018 when Calum MacLeod hit an unbeaten 140 to help his country clinch a memorable six-run victory.

The associate nation warmed up for the tournament with a losing final appearance in a tri-series with Ireland and the Netherlands, before they travelled to the Caribbean for an abandoned game against Uganda and a 55-run defeat against Afghanistan.

Team News

England celebrate taking a wicket against Pakistan on May 25, 2024.© Reuters

England’s top order contains plenty of six-hitting power courtesy of Buttler, Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Jonny Bairstow.

Harry Brook will provide the firepower in the middle order, while Sam Curran could have an important role to play with both the bat and ball after being named as player of the tournament at the 2022 T20 World Cup.

The experienced Adil Rashid leads England’s spin options, boasting a bowling average of 25 in 106 international T20 matches.

Jofra Archer is one of the standout names in the pace department, having returned to fitness following a torrid time with injuries.

However, Archer will not be the only England player delivering rockets, with Mark Wood ready to unleash his express pace in the tournament opener.

As for Scotland, the pressure of facing Archer and Wood first up will likely fall on the shoulders of George Munsey and Charlie Tear.

Munsey was his country’s top scorer at the 2022 T2O World Cup after scoring 121 runs across his three innings in Australia.

At the age of 37, skipper Richie Berrington will look to provide some solidity at number four, while his captaincy will be crucial if Scotland are to negate England’s explosive batting lineup.

Sussex’s Brad Currie and Hampshire’s Brad Wheal will form part of the pace department, while Chris Greaves and Mark Watt represent the two main spin options.

England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt (wk), Reece Topley, Mark Wood

Scotland squad: Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross (wk), Brad Currie, Chris Greaves, Oli Hairs, Jack Jarvis, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Charlie Tear (wk), Mark Watt, Brad Wheal

SM words green background© PA Photos

We say: England to win

England will enter Tuesday’s match as the overwhelming favourites to get off to a winning start, and we think that they will ultimately prove to be strong for Scotland thanks to their batting firepower and the lightning pace of Archer and Wood, which has the potential to blow the Scottish top order away.

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England pull off rare feat in T20 victory over Pakistan

England conclude the T20 series against Pakistan with a seven-wicket victory at The Oval, pulling off a rare feat in the process.

England have recorded a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan to secure a 2-0 win in the best-of-four T20 series.

The two sides went into the final fixture at The Oval having been left frustrated with two washouts ahead of the upcoming World Cup.

However, the rain stayed away in London for a full match to materialise, England starring with bat and ball to prevail with 27 balls to spare.

Jos Buttler‘s side now travel to the USA and West Indies for the bumper tournament, with their opening fixture coming against Scotland on June 4.

Pakistan fail to take advantage of fast start

Although England won the toss and elected to field, it initially looked like the wrong decision as Pakistan made it to 59-0 off 5.5 overs.

Within minutes, that became 65-2, Babar Azam (36) and Mohammad Rizwan (23) making their way back to the pavilion, and Usman Khan‘s exciting 38 from 21 balls came to an end with Pakistan on 83-3.

Much of the rest of the innings was a disaster. Three batsmen – Shadab Khan, Azam Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi – all departed for ducks having faced eight deliveries between them.

Jofra Archer took the final wicket for figures of 1-31 on just his second England game in over a year, while Mark Wood, Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone all took two wickets apiece as Pakistan were dismissed for 157 with one ball remaining.

What rare feat did England pull off?

All six of England’s bowlers took at least one wicket, while the remaining five players all achieved double figures with the bat.

Phil Salt and Buttler were sensational during the opening overs; Salt hit 45 from 24 and Buttler made 39 from 21.

The pair departed with England on 101-2 off just nine overs and Will Jacks was able to keep things ticking along with 20 from 18.

Jonny Bairstow (28*) and Harry Brook (17*) brought the game home, the former smashed three sixes from his 16-ball knock for his best effort in five innings when including IPL matches.

England will now make the long trip West to try to defend the trophy that they won two years ago, coincidentally against Pakistan.

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Jofra Archer returns as England beat Pakistan in second T20 international

Jofra Archer makes his long-awaited return for England in a 23-run victory over Pakistan in the second T20 international at Edgbaston.

England have commenced their summer fixtures with a 23-run victory over Pakistan in the second T20 international.

After the first fixture was washed out courtesy of the wet weather, there was extra importance on Saturday’s game at Edgbaston, with Jofra Archer making his first outing for over 14 months.

The pace bowler delivered 2-28 from his four overs after Jos Buttler‘s 84 with the bat, with the pair playing key roles as England bowled out Pakistan for 160.

Having won the toss, Pakistan put their hosts into bat, and the early breakthrough was made when Phil Salt (13) went at the start of the fourth over.

However, Will Jacks arrived at the crease to put on a 71-run partnership alongside Buttler before departing for 37 from just 23 balls, putting the onus on Buttler to kick on.

Buttler stars in Birmingham

With Jonny Bairstow (21) one of only two other England batsmen to reach double figures, the other being Archer with 12, England’s captain hit 84 from 51 deliveries in a knock that included three maximums.

After seeing England reach 183-7, Pakistan were dealt an abysmal start as Mohammad Rizwan departed for a third-ball duck, Saim Ayub soon following for two.

Babar Azam (32) and Fakhar Zaman (45) blasted nine fours and three sixes between them to keep Pakistan in the match, yet wickets were being lost at regular intervals.

Six England bowlers chipped in with wickets, with Reece Topley the pick with 3-41, but Moeen Ali‘s 2-26 on familiar territory for the veteran all-rounder also proved crucial.

Pakistan lost their final wicket with four balls remaining ahead of the third of fourth matches taking place in Cardiff on Tuesday night.

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