Scotland in shock win over Bangladesh

Scotland sprung a shock six-run win over Bangladesh in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup First Round match to set up an intriguing race for the two Super 12 slots from Group B.

Asked to bat first, Scotland produced a remarkable recovery, thanks to a career-best 45 from Chris Greaves, to reach 140 for 9 in 20 overs. Bangladesh had picked off Scotland’s top order batters, with only opener George Munsey scoring in double digits among the Scot’s top six.

After losing their first two wickets for 18 runs, Bangladesh were building a platform through Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan, the two most experienced players in their team. But Bangladesh’s middle and lower order could not break free, only finding the fielders in the deep as the equation was growing stiffly against them.

Who was the stand out performer?

Before he made two vital breakthroughs during the chase, Greaves made his most crucial contribution with 45 runs off 28 balls, helping Scotland recover from 53 for 6 to post a competitive 140 for 9 in 20 overs. Bangladesh had been clinical with the ball up to that point, but Greaves and Mark Watt then put together the Scot’s best partnership of the innings for 51 runs. Greaves then scored a majority of the runs in the 27-run stand with the next man in, Josh Davey.

The two wickets Greaves accounted for were of Rahim and Al Hasan, that derailed the Bangladeshi’s chase, and capped off an excellent evening for the leg break bowler. Bangladesh captain Mohammed Mahmudullah and Afif Hossain kept Bangladesh in the game, but with the asking rate only trending upwards their dismissals were only a matter of time.

Chief scores:
Scotland 140 for 9 in 20 overs (Chris Greaves 45, George Munsey 29, Mark Watt 22, Mahedi Hasan 3 for 19, Mustafizur Rahman 2 for 32, Shakib Al Hasan 2 for 17

Bangladesh 134 for 7 in 20 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 38, , Mohammed Mahmudullah 23, Shakib Al Hasan 20, Brad Wheal 3 for 24, Chris Greaves 2 for 19)