Kolkata: Not till the fifth over did England score a boundary. Then Brad Wheal conceded only eight runs in two overs to further apply the brake and push England to 54/2 after the eighth over. Needing 99 from 72 balls, Tom Banton took strike against Mark Watt’s left-arm spin. First ball was a half tracker and deservedly smashed over long-off for six. Next ball, again, this time down the ground with an even bigger hit. Watt erred and bowled wide but Banton was again on the button, going on his backfoot and pulling over mid-wicket for the third six of the over.
Twenty two runs from that over and England never had to look back again as they beat Scotland by five wickets here on Saturday to get their World Cup campaign back on track. Put in to bat, Scotland were dismissed for 152 despite a combative 32-ball 49 from captain Richie Berrington. Scotland added 71 runs for the fourth wicket between Berrington and Tom Bruce but once they were dismissed within the space of four balls, the innings crumbled.
Considering the small boundaries, a target of 153 isn’t a lot at Eden Gardens unless you bowl brilliantly. And Scotland flattered for a while too, dismissing openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler inside the first two overs. No one in the England batting lineup knows the Eden pitch better than Salt, but the track got the better of him when he tried to drive Brandon McMullen, ending up hurrying into it. Buttler wanted to take charge from there but picked out the fielder at mid-off after the bat twisted in his hand.
The onus was on Scotland to maintain the intensity in terms of keeping the runs in check, which they were achieving to a fair extent till Banton broke loose. And since this is such a format where wickets are dispensable as long as runs come, England too were completely fine playing that way.
Jacob Bethel got to a decent start till his attempted slog sweep couldn’t clear short backward square. Skipper Harry Brook’s dismissal came against the run of play, making Scotland hope against hope. Banton reached his fifty in 33 balls, slower than perhaps what he is used to but perfectly okay to take down Scotland’s innings without taking too many risks. He stayed beaten on 63 off 41, England romping home with 10 balls to spare.
