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T20 World Cup: England stays afloat as Scotland sulks at its loss to Australia
Pakistan ends its campaign with a three-wicket win over Ireland
England has moved to the Super 8 round of the T20 World Cup. / X/@T20WorldCup
Cricket is no different from other team games when it comes to participating squads scripting their rivals' progress reports. If England has moved to the Super 8 round of the T20 World Cup, it is because Australia beat Scotland elsewhere. Similarly, when the Ireland-USA match was abandoned, Pakistan bore the brunt and made an unceremonious exit from the Super 8 round.
The green shirts were fortunate that even after being knocked out of the Super 8 round, got a chance to play at Central Broward Park in Florida. Incidentally, it was the first and last of the four games scheduled to be played at the oldest cricket stadium in the USA. The first three had to be abandoned because of rain-induced unplayable conditions.
Central Broward Park Stadium would go down in the annals of the history of becoming the first venue where the first three T20 World Cup games ended without a ball being bowled. The last game between Ireland and Pakistan salvaged its prestige as a T20 World Cup venue. Incidentally, both teams had already been knocked out of the Super 8 round even before they took the field for the last match on Florida soil. Pakistan won by three wickets with seven balls to spare. The win came too late to be of any consequence for the Green Shirts.
Luck, they say, plays an important role in the highly competitive world of sports. And luck favors the brave. Teams taking chances invariably succeed and progress to prize money rounds.
The group stages in the T20 Men’s World Cup, which are almost coming to an end, have already thrown up several surprises, upsets and thrilling finishes, including a one-run loss suffered by Nepal at the hands of South Africa in one of the nail-biting finishes. Gulshan Jha, while trying to push the match to super over, ran himself out to give South Africa its fourth straight win. Earlier in the tournament, the host USA had surprised Pakistan by five runs in the only Super Over Finish of the tournament so far.
More recently, if England are through to the Super 8, it is because Australia battled past an excellent Scotland side in St Lucia to reach the victory target of 181 with just two balls to spare. It may have been a big heartbreak for the Scots who have been consistent with their performance, both with bat and ball, in the tournament.
England's rain-interrupted win over Namibia earlier on June.15 meant Scotland needed a win to progress, while Australia were already through to the next stage. Travis Head and Marcus Stoinis both made half-centuries as Mitchell Marsh's side chased down their target of 181 with two balls to spare.
Scotland has impressed throughout this tournament and flourished again here, unfazed by their big-name opponents.
Incidentally, the opening match between Scotland and England could not be completed after the Scots had piled up an impressive 90-run opening wicket in 10 0vers before the game was called off.
In the latest game against the Aussies, it looked like the Scots might struggle when Michael Jones was dismissed for two, but Brandon McMullen led the way with a superb 60 from 34 balls. Scotland, still an associate member, posted the highest total made against Australia by an associate team.
Their good show with bat was primarily because of McMullen and George Munsey (35) who added 89 for the second wicket before captain Richie Berrington made 42 from 31 balls to help set a competitive total.
When Aussies started the hunt for the 181-run target, their star batters – David Warner, Marsh and Glenn Maxwell – all fell cheaply and Scotland looked well placed to pull off a seismic shock and like the USA secure a place in the Super 8.
However, Head came to the rescue of his team. He disciplined his innings with some superb batting skills and in partnership with dependable Stoinis, he wrestled back the momentum.
A Mighty Six by Tim David finished the job. The hit to the maximum broke Scottish hearts while warming the cockle of hearts of the English who also happen to be defending champions.
Brief Scores:
- Scotland 180-5 (20 overs): McMullen 60 (34), Berrington 42 (31); Maxwell 2-44
- Australia 186-5 (19.4 overs): Head 68 (49), Stoinis 59 (29); Watt 2-34
Playing to salvage some of its pride after its dismal show in the earlier games, Pakistan managed to restrict Ireland to 106 for nine in 20 0vers. Credit must go to Irish batsmen as they were struggling at 32 for six in 6.3 overs before Gareth Delany and Mark Adair put on 44 for the seventh wicket. Tailenders, too, waged a determined battle to take the score past the 100-mark, thanks to Joshua Little who remained unbeaten on 22 from 18 balls and put up undefeated 26 runs for the last wicket with Benjamin White (5 not out). Shaheen Afridi 3/22, Imad Wasim 3/8 and Mohammad Amir 2/11 were the most successful Pakistan bowlers.
Needing 107 for its second win, Pakistan lost both openers – Mohammad Rizwan and Saim Ayub – for 17 runs each by the time the score reached 39/2 in 5.5 overs. Pakistan also lost Fakhar Zaman for (5), Usman Khan (2) and Shadab Khan (0) as it reached 57/5 at the halfway stage with Barry McCarthy (3/15 from 4 overs) remaining the most devastating.
A 33-run seventh wicket partnership between skipper Babar Azam and Abbas Afridi 17 (21balls) was broken by White to make Pakistan 95 for seven. A hit to the maximum by the new batsman Shaheen Afridi almost took the match out of the grasp of the Irish. And Shaheen Afridi did it with his second six of the innings of Gareth Delany to give Pakistan its second, though, inconsequential win. Babar Azam, who played sheet anchor, remained unbeaten on 32 from 34 balls to end his team’s campaign on a winning note.
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