ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: England vs Scotland, Pool A match at Christchurch in caricatures

Coming into the game, England were under tremendous pressure after losing to Australia and New Zealand in their first two games of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. The loss against New Zealand must have hurt the English team more, considering the way they were completely outplayed in all departments in one of the most one-sided contests ever.

England faced their neighbouring country Scotland in the Pool A match in Christchurch, New Zealand. Ahead of the match, Scotland were certainly aiming to get their first win against a full-member side in World Cup. With England suffering a humiliating loss, the Scottish team thought it was the apt moment to play against them when they are down on morale.

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Preston Mommsen won the toss and elected to field first. The Scotland bowlers couldn’t make use of the assistance in the pitch and the English batsmen flourished. The opening pair went on to accumulate 172-runs for the first wicket. Moeen Ali (128 in 107 balls) was the aggressor in the partnership while Ian Bell (54) played a supportive role. Scotland then picked up four quick wickets but late hitting from captain Eoin Morgan (46) and Jos Buttler (24) aided England to a score of 303 for eight in 50 overs. For Scotland Josh Davey (4-68) was the pick of the bowlers, he was on the expensive side but claimed the important wickets and almost took a hat-trick in the last over.

England at one stage were poised for a 350 plus score and when Scotland restricted them 303, they did fancy their chances but they still had to go out and play out of their skins to reach it. Scotland never got going as they lost wickets regularly. Only Kyle Coetzer (71) scored some valuable runs for them while Mommsen (26) and wicket-keeper Matthew Cross (23) provide some resistance. They were bundled out for 184 in the 43rd over in yet another dismal show with the willow.

Steve Finn (3-26) combined well with Chris Woakes (2-25), James Anderson (2-30) and Moeen Ali (2-47) to limit the Scottish batting to the paltry score as England registered their first victory in this World Cup by 119 runs.

Moeen Ali was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his all-round performance. England, with the win, moved up to fifth place in the points table after playing three games. Scotland moved down to the bottom of the table with no points from their two games. Scotland faces Afghanistan on Thursday while England play Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Brief scores:

England 303 for 8 in 50 overs (Moeen Ali 128, Ian Bell 54, Eoin Morgan 46; Josh Davey 4-68) bt Scotland 184 all out in 42.2 overs (Kyle Coetzer 71; Steve Finn 3-26, Chris Woakes 2-25, James Anderson 2-30, Moeen Ali 2-47) by 119 runs