Match Details
Commentary
Scotland Probable XI: George Munsey, Michael Alexander Jones, Brandon McMullen, Richie Berrington (c), Tom Bruce, Matthew Henry Cross (wk), Mark Watt, Michael Alexander Leask, Oliver Davidson, Bradley Wheal, Bradley Currie
England Playing XI: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (c), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid
Preview by AkshayaKrishna Polya
England, the two-time T20 World Cup winners, are yet to win a single match against a European Nation in the tournament's history, and are set to collide with Scotland in the 23rd match of this global event at the historic Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Saturday (February 14).
The English side has played five T20 WC fixtures against the European teams, losing three of them. The Netherlands have defeated England at Lord's in 2009 and at Chattogram in 2014, while Ireland brushed aside the then Jos Buttler-led side at Melbourne in 2022. The clashes with the Irish set-up at Guyana in 2010 and against Scotland at Bridgetown in 2024 were washed out by rain.
The Scottish unit raced to 90/0 in the last edition before the rain had the last laugh. This time, the two teams are facing off in a Group C encounter.
Speaking of the Harry Brook-led side, it is living on the knife-edge. How many of them would have believed if they were told that England would be placed below Scotland and Italy on the points table? Well, all three of them have two points from two matches, but with a poor net run rate, England find themself at fourth.
The Brook-led team narrowly escaped a Nepal scare at Wankhede in its opening game. That four-run win got England on board with two points, but they were outplayed by the West Indies in their very next game. A 30-run defeat to the Windies has put England in a tense position, as they have to rewrite history at a place where they lost the T20 World Cup final in 2016.
Jofra Archer's form with the ball is a concern for the Brook-led side. He hasn't hit his straps yet in this competition. Adil Rashid, who was taken to the cleaners by Nepal, bounced back strongly against the West Indies, returning with amazing figures of 2/16 amidst the carnage from Sherfane Rutherford and Jason Holder. Will Jacks and Liam Dawson need to step up in pitches that offer a bit of spin, while Jamie Overton, who replaced Luke Wood, has done the job.
England's top order got the starts. One of them needs to play a long innings. Tom Banton is yet to fire. Brook and Jacks failed to counter spin against the Men in Maroon after derailing Nepal, while Sam Curran has stood up with both bat and ball when required. However, the elongated England batting line-up failed as a whole in the last game in Mumbai.
Despite the loss, England have named an unchanged playing XI for this crucial game.
On the other hand, Scotland have a golden chance to stun England. The opposition is badly bruised. The Richie Berrington-led side lost to the Shai Hope-led side in its first game, but hammered Italy by 73 runs in the very next game to boost its net run rate.
George Munsey set the stage on fire with a cracking 84, getting good support from Michael Jones, before Brandon McMullen, Berrington and Michael Leask went berserk to propel Scotland to 207/4. Leask then took the new ball and decimated the Azzurri with a four-wicket haul, getting nice backing from the rest of the bowling attack.
Can England break the jinx, bury the memories of the past at Eden Gardens and withstand a Scotland challenge? To know, join us at 7 PM IST and Local Time on Saturday for its live coverage!
England, the two-time T20 World Cup winners, are yet to win a single match against a European Nation in the tournament's history, and are set to collide with Scotland in the 23rd match of this global event at the historic Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Saturday (February 14).
The English side has played five T20 WC fixtures against the European teams, losing three of them. The Netherlands have defeated England at Lord's in 2009 and at Chattogram in 2014, while Ireland brushed aside the then Jos Buttler-led side at Melbourne in 2022. The clashes with the Irish set-up at Guyana in 2010 and against Scotland at Bridgetown in 2024 were washed out by rain.
The Scottish unit raced to 90/0 in the last edition before the rain had the last laugh. This time, the two teams are facing off in a Group C encounter.
Speaking of the Harry Brook-led side, it is living on the knife-edge. How many of them would have believed if they were told that England would be placed below Scotland and Italy on the points table? Well, all three of them have two points from two matches, but with a poor net run rate, England find themself at fourth.
The Brook-led team narrowly escaped a Nepal scare at Wankhede in its opening game. That four-run win got England on board with two points, but they were outplayed by the West Indies in their very next game. A 30-run defeat to the Windies has put England in a tense position, as they have to rewrite history at a place where they lost the T20 World Cup final in 2016.
Jofra Archer's form with the ball is a concern for the Brook-led side. He hasn't hit his straps yet in this competition. Adil Rashid, who was taken to the cleaners by Nepal, bounced back strongly against the West Indies, returning with amazing figures of 2/16 amidst the carnage from Sherfane Rutherford and Jason Holder. Will Jacks and Liam Dawson need to step up in pitches that offer a bit of spin, while Jamie Overton, who replaced Luke Wood, has done the job.
England's top order got the starts. One of them needs to play a long innings. Tom Banton is yet to fire. Brook and Jacks failed to counter spin against the Men in Maroon after derailing Nepal, while Sam Curran has stood up with both bat and ball when required. However, the elongated England batting line-up failed as a whole in the last game in Mumbai.
Despite the loss, England have named an unchanged playing XI for this crucial game.
On the other hand, Scotland have a golden chance to stun England. The opposition is badly bruised. The Richie Berrington-led side lost to the Shai Hope-led side in its first game, but hammered Italy by 73 runs in the very next game to boost its net run rate.
George Munsey set the stage on fire with a cracking 84, getting good support from Michael Jones, before Brandon McMullen, Berrington and Michael Leask went berserk to propel Scotland to 207/4. Leask then took the new ball and decimated the Azzurri with a four-wicket haul, getting nice backing from the rest of the bowling attack.
Can England break the jinx, bury the memories of the past at Eden Gardens and withstand a Scotland challenge? To know, join us at 7 PM IST and Local Time on Saturday for its live coverage!
Head-to-Head in T20Is:
Matches Played: 1
No-Result: 1
Matches Played: 1
No-Result: 1
Scotland Squad: George Munsey, Michael Alexander Jones, Brandon McMullen, Richie Berrington (c), Tom Bruce, Michael Alexander Leask, Matthew Henry Cross (wk), Mark Watt, Oliver Davidson, Bradley Wheal, Bradley Currie, Safyaan Sharif, Finlay McCreath, Chris Greaves, Zainullah Ihsan
England Squad: Phil Salt (wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton (wk), Harry Brook (c), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood, Josh Tongue, Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett (wk)