It would be an exaggeration to be called a British rivalry but here were two countries from the British Islands, one formidable force and the other a minnow in cricket, facing each other at the world stage to achieve different objectives. Scotland have never beaten a Full Member nation in a one-day international and they were there see if this could be their day.
Scotland won the toss and decided they will bowl. Scotland made a couple of changes bringing in Freddie Coleman and Alasdair Evans replace Hamish Gardiner and Rob Taylor respectively. It was brave to see England have not changed their playing XI. It seems England wanted to make some statement.
Wardlaw and Davey started for the Scots and Moeen Ali and Ian Bell started for the England. England started cautiously reaching 25 in 5 overs. If Moeen was doing the bulk scoring then it was Davey who conceded the most in this period. England riding on Moeen were moving steadily scoring 58 in the powerplay. It seemed England had come with a plan and resolve and Scotland had no answer to these two men. England reached the 100 mark in the 17th over. This was England's first 100 runs partnership in this tournament. Moeen Ali scored his second ODI hundred in just 91 balls and Bell accumulated 50 in 80 balls, England were 163/0 in 28.2 overs. Finally something went the right way for Scotland and at the beginning of the 31st over dismissed Bell for 54 off 85 balls. The partnership was 172 in 30.1 overs and it was England's highest partnership for the 1st wicket in the world cups surpassing 158 put by Dennis Amiss and Barry Wood against East Africa at Edgbaston in the first World Cup in 1975.
The platform had been set and a 350+ score was surely on the cards. The wicket did not have any bearing on Moeen Ali's game and he continued with the same aggression. Moeen Ali fell just before the powerplay to Majid Haq at 128 off 106 balls. It is his career best in ODIs. England were 201/2. Ballance and Root also fell in quick succession. England were 203/4 on 36.1 overs. With cluster of wickets, England's progress was reined. Morgan and Taylor ensure no further wicket fell in the batting powerplay, scoring 22 runs. Morgan and Taylor added for 49 for 5th wicket, later Morgan and Buttler added 45 for 6th wicket. England finally ended with a score of 303/8 in 50 overs and Morgan himself scored 46 off 42 balls. After the record opening stand, England should have scored a definite 350+ score but considering their performance in the first two games, they will be happy to take this 300+ score as well.
When Scotland began its chase, it would have been reminded that they had chased down 260+ scores 4 times in ODIs. But none of the teams were a full member. In theory, it looked possible but not probable considering that England would have been really high on their confidence after posting 300+ to chase. But Scotland were never in chase losing wickets in regular interval. Their chase received an early jolt when dangerous Calum MacLeod was dismissed early and even their in form batsmen in Machan and Berrington fell cheaply. The only time they looked in the match was when Kyle Coetzer and captain Preston Mommsen added 60 runs for 4th wicket. But later, Coetzer and Mommsen fell in quick succession and then it was just matter of time before the curtains fell on Scotland's innings.
The platform had been set and a 350+ score was surely on the cards. The wicket did not have any bearing on Moeen Ali's game and he continued with the same aggression. Moeen Ali fell just before the powerplay to Majid Haq at 128 off 106 balls. It is his career best in ODIs. England were 201/2. Ballance and Root also fell in quick succession. England were 203/4 on 36.1 overs. With cluster of wickets, England's progress was reined. Morgan and Taylor ensure no further wicket fell in the batting powerplay, scoring 22 runs. Morgan and Taylor added for 49 for 5th wicket, later Morgan and Buttler added 45 for 6th wicket. England finally ended with a score of 303/8 in 50 overs and Morgan himself scored 46 off 42 balls. After the record opening stand, England should have scored a definite 350+ score but considering their performance in the first two games, they will be happy to take this 300+ score as well.
When Scotland began its chase, it would have been reminded that they had chased down 260+ scores 4 times in ODIs. But none of the teams were a full member. In theory, it looked possible but not probable considering that England would have been really high on their confidence after posting 300+ to chase. But Scotland were never in chase losing wickets in regular interval. Their chase received an early jolt when dangerous Calum MacLeod was dismissed early and even their in form batsmen in Machan and Berrington fell cheaply. The only time they looked in the match was when Kyle Coetzer and captain Preston Mommsen added 60 runs for 4th wicket. But later, Coetzer and Mommsen fell in quick succession and then it was just matter of time before the curtains fell on Scotland's innings.
Scotland were dismissed finally in 43.2 overs with a final score of 184. England's bowlers who were at the receiving end so far in the tournament were on the top this time. They did not allow Scotland to even come nearer to the chase. This win would have boosted their NRR a bit, but more than that England would be happy to get 2 points on the board. For Scotland, it would be a disappointing performance but they will draw inspiration from the fact that they could restrict England to a modest 303 considering the start that England had.
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