AUSTRALIA: Scotland outclassed West Indies by 42 runs, aided by George Munsey, who carried his bat through the Scottish innings to help his side post a competitive target of 161 before Mark Watt led the bowling attack to skittle West Indies out for 118.
Scotland Innings
After the West Indian skipper won the toss and opted to field on a green and firm pitch in the 3rd qualifier for the group stages of the T20 World Cup, Scotland openers George Munsey and Michael Jones took on the pacers as the Scottish batsmen hit them around the Hobart oval, smashing boundaries at will to give their side a flying start.
George Munsey (66 not out) punished Kyle Mayers’ (24/0) and Alzarri Joseph’s (28/2) poor lines by hitting three boundaries in the third and fourth overs of the innings.
Mayers and Joseph gave away 16 and 15 runs, respectively, as they could only watch the ball run away into the gaps as Munsey hit the ball mercilessly.
Scotland’s first fifty runs came within the powerplay in just five overs. Obed McCoy (25/0) raised hopes of the first breakthrough when he appealed for an LBW against Munsey, but the extra bounce of the pitch turned out to be the saviour for the hard-hitting Munsey as the replays showed that the ball would have clipped the top of the leg stump. The third umpire decided to stay with the umpire’s call as not out.
The play was stopped in the middle of the 6th over as the wind failed to blow away the steady drizzle.
After a 45-minute rain-induced break, West Indies lost their first review as McCoy appealed again for an LBW against Munsey, only for the replays to show that the impact was outside the off stump while being a long way down the pitch.
Jason Holder (14/2) bowled the first over after the powerplay struck immediately as he struck twice in consecutive overs. He castled Michael Jones (20 off 17 balls) with one that nipped back at the right-hander from a good length in the 7th over.
The new man in, Matthew Cross (3 off 5 balls), was caught by Shamarh Brooks at mid-on as he tried to swat a back-of-length delivery from Holder in his second over of the spell.
The two quick wickets pegged back the early impetus given by the openers as George Munsey held fort at one end. After the 10th over, Scotland were 72 for the loss of 2 wickets, a far cry from 50 for no loss after the 5th over.
Richie Berrington (16 off 14 balls) began to free his arm as he deposited Akeal Hosein (31/0) for a massive six in the 11th over, but couldn’t keep the momentum going as he pulled a short delivery from Joseph in the very next over, straight to Mayers at short mid-wicket, who pouched the offering with glee.
Calum MacLeod (23 off 14 balls) showed aggressive intent early on as he pulled Holder for a four before hitting Obed McCoy for consecutive boundaries in the next over, which yielded 11 runs as the scoring rate began to rise.
MacLeod and Munsey milked Akeal Hosein’s final over for 10 runs thanks to some brilliant running between the wickets and a beautiful boundary by MacLeod.
Odean Smith (31/1) cut short the dangerous-looking MacLeod’s cameo by having him caught at cover by Brandon King. George Munsey soon brought up his first T20 World Cup fifty by nudging Joseph for a single.
Number six batsman Michael Leask (4 off 6 balls) was bowled by a yorker from Joseph as Munsey watched wickets tumble at the other end.
Chris Greaves (16 off 11 balls), who came in after the dismissal of Leask, began with a bang, hitting McCoy for consecutive boundaries in the 18th over.
Alzarri Joseph, who was bowling a tight line, struck Munsey on the thigh pads off the first ball of the 19th over and the umpire raised the finger of doom.
Munsey successfully reviewed straightaway as the ball seemed to pitch outside of the leg stump. Munsey survived another LBW scare two deliveries later as West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran decided to use up the last DRS for a delivery that was pitching outside the leg stump.
Munsey smashed three boundaries off Odean Smith, who was handed the ball for the last over of the innings to take Scotland to 160/5 in their stipulated 20 overs.
West Indies Innings
Slow-left-arm bowler Mark Watt (12/3) started the proceedings with a measly first over, giving away a single run.
Wicketkeeper Matthew Cook missed out on a stumping opportunity off the fifth delivery as he fumbled while collecting the ball, which allowed Evin Lewis (14 off 13 balls) to get back into his crease.
The early pressure created by Watt was somewhat relieved by Kyle Mayers (20 off 13 balls), who smacked the bowler for consecutive boundaries in the second over of the innings.
His onslaught continued into the next over as he smashed Josh Davey (34/1) for a four and a six off successive deliveries before holing out to George Munsey, who took a fine sliding catch to dismiss the punitive left-hander.
The new man in, Brandon King (17 off 15 balls), and Lewis collected 14 runs off the bowling of Safyaan Sharif (23/1) with the help of two boundaries and a couple of wides in an erratic bowling performance by the pacer.
Lewis and King were smashed for a six and a four respectively, as runs came freely off both batsmen’s blades.
Brandon King brought up the fifty for West Indies by driving the ball through the covers past a couple of diving fielders for a boundary off Brad Wheal (32/2).
Lewis was dismissed one ball later as he mistimed a pull shot and ended up giving Michael Jones an easy catch at square leg. At the end of the powerplay, the West Indies were 54 for the loss of 2 wickets.
Brandon King didn’t last long, with the right-hander missing the length of a slow delivery from Mark Watt as the ball crashed into the top of the middle stump.
Michael Leask (14/2) cleaned up Nicholas Pooran (4 off 9 balls), two balls after the right-handed batsman had survived a review for a stumping. He struck again in his next over by dismissing Rovman Powell (2 off 4 balls), who toe-ended a fuller-length delivery straight into the waiting hands of MacLeod.
The West Indies skipper, Jason Holder, came in at number seven with his team tottering at 69/5 as the Scottish spinners blew away the West Indies’ top order. Shamarh Brooks (4 off 9 balls) didn’t fare any better against the disciplined bowling from Scotland.
Brooks mistimed a pull shot off Brad Wheal, only for Michael Leask to take a diving catch.
Holder was involved in a mix-up with Akeal Hosein (1 off 1 ball), who ended up falling short of his crease as the keeper-bowler duo of Matthew Cross and Leask whipped the bails off the stumps.
The situation turned from bad to worse when Berrington called back Mark Watt for his third over. Watt had Alzarri Joseph (0 off 1 ball) caught behind off his very first ball of the over.
With 72 runs required to win in 30 deliveries, the West Indies looked down in the dumps. Jason Holder hit Brad Wheal for a six over mid-wicket and followed it up with a fine boundary past point a ball later.
Mark Watt claimed his third wicket of the day by dismissing Odean Smith (5 off 8 balls), who heaved one into the hands of Chris Greaves at long-off. Mark Watt ended his spell with glorious figures of 4-0-12-3, consisting of 16 dot deliveries.
In the 18th over, Jason Holder hit Josh Davey for consecutive deliveries as he attempted to mount a West Indian comeback from 102/9.He eventually perished trying to hit Safyaan Sharif out of the park, only to be caught out by Chris Greaves.
The Scotland bowlers displayed supreme execution of plans as they bowled tight lines throughout the match and, with the spinners led by Mark Watt spinning their web around the batting order, the West Indian batting crumbled for 118 in 18.3 overs.
George Munsey was adjudged player of the match for his superlative batting performance, which helped Scotland post a competitive total which ultimately was too much for the West Indies.
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