Hobart, Oct 17 (IANS): Since their run to the Super 12 in 2021 Men's T20 World Cup, Scotland played just two more T20Is before they embarked to Australia to play in the first round of the ongoing tournament in Hobart.
But on Monday, exactly a year after Scotland defeated Bangladesh by six runs in their opening first round match of 2021 T20 World Cup at Al Amerat, Oman, they pulled off another major upset with a shock 42-run victory over two-time champions West Indies in their Group B match at Bellerive Oval.
"Elated to be off to a winning start like that against West Indies. A lot of good memories from last year's World Cup as well. We won that first game against Bangladesh, and I think we took a lot of belief from that."
"The boys showed today how good we can be. That belief has always been there. We know if we execute our skills well, we can certainly give ourselves a good chance. So, really happy to get a winning start," said skipper Richie Berrington in the post-match press conference.
In Scotland's spectacular win coming 24 hours after Namibia inflicted an upset 55-run win over Sri Lanka at Geelong, George Munsey slammed an 66 off just 53 balls in Scotland posting an excellent 160/5 in cold conditions.
Munsey's knock was clearly an innings of two halves: hitting shots for fun in the start for a breezy opening stand of 55 in 6.2 overs. But he kept going through to get his first T20 World Cup fifty, even if he was not at his fluent best as he was at the start of the innings.
The left-handed Munsey held one end up to get Scotland a total they would be confident of defending. He failed to find a single boundary between overs five to 19 before hitting three fours in the last over off Smith for Scotland to reach the 160-mark.
"He's been a really important part of our line-up for a while now, with the intent he brings to the top of the order, I think a lot of our guys can feed off of that. He certainly puts the ball under a lot of pressure, which makes it easier for the guys at the other end.
He's gone from strength-to-strength and we've always believed he can do it against the best. So hopefully his good form will continue from here," added Berrington.
After Munsey, left-arm spinner Mark Watt led a fantastic Scotland bowling show with his brilliant 3/12 and formed a formidable spin pair with off-spinner Michael Leask (2/14) as the duo shared five wickets between themselves and bowled 27 dot balls to derail the West Indies' chase.
"Although he's still young, he's done it for a number of years for us now. He's certainly someone that I feel I can throw the ball to in big moments. He tends to deliver and get big wickets. It's certainly a strength of his. I know that you'll see plenty more of him," stated Berrington.
Berrington signed off by saying defending totals in the ongoing T20 World Cup will be a handy strategy for teams as the competition goes ahead. "It will probably just depend on when you're playing and where you're playing, and they can be different. We'll just have to wait and see."
"But I think in big games, runs on the board can be really important. We know some of the grounds here in Australia can be quite as big as well. So it gives you a bit of a chance to defend. We'll have to see how the next couple of games go and go from there."