Photo Credit: ICC
Kyle Coetzer believes there is much more to come from Scotland after they continued their impressive start to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 with victory against Papua New Guinea.
Kyle Coetzer believes there is much more to come from Scotland after they continued their impressive start to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 with victory against Papua New Guinea.
Richie Berrington starred with the bat and hit nine boundaries in his 49-ball 70, while he and Matthew Cross (45), put on 92 for the third wicket as Scotland made good use of winning the toss and finished their innings on 165 for nine.
PNG, who lose to Oman in their opening game, fell to 35 for five in reply but battled valiantly, with Norman Vanua’s 47 setting up a thrilling finish.
However, Josh Davey took care of the PNG tail on his way to career-best T20I figures of four for 18 as PNG were 148 all out, 17 runs short of Scotland’s total.
Scotland beat Bangladesh in the opening game and know that victory against Oman in their third Group B clash on Thursday will see them win Group B and secure safe passage to the Super 12s.
“I certainly would have taken this before the first game of the tournament, so I am very happy and now we just need to keep this momentum going,” Coetzer said.
“Richie Berrington and Matt Cross played outstandingly well today and Richie was man of the match.
“He has been doing that consistently for us over the last month or so but I actually thought we left some runs out on the park. Credit to PNG, they bowled excellently at the death and used the boundary side to benefit them.
“There are a few things for us to look at going into our last game but I am very happy with where we are. We didn’t nail everything we wanted to in the field, PNG run so well between the wickets and that put us under a bit of pressure.
“Our catching was not 100 percent either but it never always goes the way you want it to. Those are the things we need to keep an eye on.
“There were some nerves towards the end there with how fast Norman was swinging that bat, and anyone would get scared when he gets going. I am really happy at the end of the day.”
Coetzer was quick to praise his bowlers for responding to the pressure applied by Vanua, who had threatened to set up a tense finale.
Davey held his line and length well, while spinner Mark Watt earned praise for an economical one for 23 from his four overs.
“They pushed us all the way, gave us a few nervous moments but we bowled well at the death with Josh Davey and Mark Watt,” Coetzer added.
“As usual, Mark did the job. He’s under the radar but he did an excellent job and is important for our team.”
While Scotland are dreaming of the Super 12s, PNG face a mountain to climb after a second successive defeat.
Captain Assad Vala blamed a slow start with bat and ball for their defeat to Scotland and has urged his team to finish strong against Bangladesh in their final group game.
“It was different today but we did not start well in either game,” he said.
“Our bowling gave away 20 runs in the first two overs. We pegged them back and bowled well at the death and we thought we could chase 160 but we didn’t start as well as we wanted with the bat.
“Scotland are a really good bowling team and they put us under pressure and we crumbled. We fought back really well in the middle and the end but it was not enough.”
