Published: Feb 22, 2015, 01:27 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 23, 2015, 03:00 AM (IST)
The United Kingdom neighbours, England and Scotland, will face each other in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Pool A encounter at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. The match could prove to be an exciting contest in light of the way both the teams have fared in the World Cup so far. Live Scorecard: England vs Scotland
England, though a much stronger side on paper, have suffered humiliating defeats to both the host nations – New Zealand as well as Australia. They lost by 111 runs against Australia in their tournament opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) but the bigger humiliation was yet to come. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: POINTS TABLE
New Zealand gave them the eight-wicket hammering at Wellington. England were first bowled out for 123, riding on some magical bowling by Tim Southee, removing seven English batsmen just for 33 runs. To add to the disaster for England, Brendon McCullum smashed a 25-ball 77 and propelled New Zealand to devour England inside 12.2 overs. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS
Scotland, on the other, hand have only played one match – against New Zealand and lost. However, their performance was far more convincing than England’s. Scotland scored 142 runs in their innings, but then bowled beautifully before the tournament favourites finally got home.
Scotland will go into the match hoping to capitalise on the vulnerable and demoralised state of mind of English cricketers. Whereas, England’s key players will look to find their footing against the associate nation, after they got impeded by some rather special performances from the teams they have faced so far.
Scotland’s bowling will heavily rely on Ian Wardlaw, who got a lot of swing against New Zealand and picked three crucial wickets. They will also hope for Josh Davey to bowl to his potential. England’s bowling have some big names like James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who can dominate the best of teams on their day.
In the batting department, Scotland have Kyle Coetzer and Hamish Gardiner at the top of the order, who ooze with potential but have not displayed their best in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 just as yet. However, middle-order batsmen Matt Machan and Richie Berrington scored amazing fifties before throwing their wickets away in the match against New Zealand. If they continue in the same vein, England could face some trouble.
England have young exciting talents like Jos Buttler and James Taylor who could score plenty of runs if they get going. Taylor even scored a brave unbeaten 99 against Australia and he could well get back into form against the Scots. Most importantly Eoin Morgan, the England skipper, will be desperate to get some runs under his belt. A good performance by him with the bat may rub onto his captaincy skills and may trigger a change in fortunes for England.
Squads:
England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Joe Root, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes.
Scotland: Preston Mommsen (c), Kyle Coetzer, Richie Berrington, Frederick Coleman, Matthew Cross, Josh Davey, Alasdair Evans, Hamish Gardiner, Majid Haq, Michael Leask, Matt Machan, Calum MacLeod, Safyaan Sharif, Robert Taylor, Iain Wardlaw.
Time: 11:00 local time | 03:30 IST | 22:00 GMT
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
(Rishad D’Souza, a reporter with CricketCountry, gave up hopes of playing Test cricket after a poor gully-cricket career. He now reports on the sport. You can follow @RishadDsouza on Twitter)
