The first task of this T20 World Championship was in the middle of two countries that didn’t know the wet stuff. But Scotland could probably feel more aggrieved at the end of this Group B match than England, having done most of the running in the middle of the downpours that finally caused the procedure to fail.
It was a day that also promised a lot. A small but lively crowd had lined up for the launch at 10.30am, including children from Jofra archer’s former school, The Christ Church Foundation. Sir Garfield Sobers watched from a wicker chair atop the Worrell, Weekes and Walcott stands, while, contrary to his regal charisma, the visitors’ fans loitered in the pool by the border.
Unfortunately, in the middle of the heat but ruinous rain showers, only 10 Cricket stop-starts were possible, George Munsey, 41, and Michael Jones, 45, crushed Scotland to 90 without loss as England easily stumbled out of the blocks.
Had the teams been promoted again, Jos Buttler’s men would have needed 109 out of 10 Overs to win. a difficult goal but not impossible given your range of Powerhitters.
As things stand, the two teams have each left a point to start their campaigns, although England are also feeling a little less animated by their performance.
“I thought we were a little sloppy on the pitch, with a little nerves at the starting of the tournament,” said their head coach Matthew Mott, before insisting that the ball was getting more and more slippery with 10 wickets in the wet, they would still have imagined the chase.
England will have to be much sharper on Saturday against Australia than what has been seen here. After a delayed start – partly because the water had come through the covers and onto the pitch – a couple of false fields in the Ring and a wicket of a No-ball from Mark Wood allowed Scotland to reach 51 without losing over the initial 6.2 Overs.
Not that Scotland don’t have good value here, Jones has been the main striker at this stage reaching 32 off 23 balls and scoring 15 runs off Chris Jordan’s sixth over. This included a superb six from the Durham right-hander, the ball flew over the roof of the Greenidge and Haynes stand and smashed a solar panel.
after hours of waiting, his structure had been reconfigured to 10 Overs per side and a revised destination for England. Scotland’s innings should be over first if England had two fewer bowlers, Wood and Archer – who was quick but scoreless in his first world Cup match since sent in their allowance at that point.