Kolkata, Feb 14 (IANS) Scotland captain Richie Berrington admitted his side were “20–30 runs short” after their five-wicket defeat to England in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Eden Gardens on Saturday. Tom Banton’s unbeaten 63 and Jacob Bethell’s 32 helped England edge out Scotland by five wickets with 10 balls to spare

Berrington conceded that while the surface at Eden Gardens was good for batting and his team showed belief with both bat and ball, the lack of sustained partnerships and slightly off execution in the middle overs ultimately proved costly.

“Yeah, I thought that it was a really good wicket to bat on. I felt that we didn’t get too many partnerships in our innings. Myself and Brucy were batting well, but probably needed just one of us to bat deep. We were 20-30 runs short today,” Berrington said after the match.

Earlier, England opted to bowl on a juicy surface, and Jofra Archer had an instant effect in the second over of his spell, taking two early wickets in the powerplay — George Munsey (4) and Brandon McMullen (0).

Michael Jones and Richie Berrington provided stability to the innings during the Power-play. Jones looked confident until he was dismissed by Sam Curran in the sixth over for 33 runs. Berrington and Tom Bruce had a great partnership for Scotland, putting on 71 runs from just 41 balls for the fourth wicket. Bruce was out against the run of play for 24 runs off 18 balls, whilst Berrington fell for 49 runs off 32 balls, just short of his half-century.

After a spirited late-order contribution from Oliver Davidson, Scotland managed to reach 150 runs. Scotland’s innings then fell apart as they lost wickets at regular intervals, eventually being bowled out for 152 runs in 19.4 overs. Adil Rashid finished with excellent figures of 3 wickets for 36 runs as Jofra chipped in with two for 24.

“I think we knew that spin was going to be key in that middle phase today. England have got some world-class spinners on its side. Our execution was slightly off today. We still felt that we have batters who can play better in those situations. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite click enough today. We now move on to Mumbai, which has different conditions. I think having that partnership in the middle was really crucial for us, but it wasn’t quite long enough.”

England had a rocky start to the chase with both Phil Salt and Jos Buttler getting out within the first couple of overs (2 and 3, respectively). Scotland’s opening bowlers (Brad Currie and Richie McMullen) were exceptional through the first 6 overs, getting England behind.

“I think we had that belief to execute our best skills and defend the score. We showed that, but it definitely hurts. We know that if we can execute our best skills, we can put anyone under pressure. Well, that can happen to anyone. Some days are not yours. I thought he came back well later on. It’s just one of those things that didn’t come off well today for us.

–IANS

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