Photo Credit: ICC
Scotland have already made history by reaching the second stage of an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the first time but spinner Mark Watt has no intention of stopping now.
Victory over Bangladesh in the opening game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 was a statement of intent from the Scots, backed up by beating Papua New Guinea.
Still, going into the final group game against hosts Oman, defeat could still have spelt the end of the road. In their most convincing performance of the tournament so far, not only did Scotland win, but they did so in emphatic fashion with an eight-wicket success.
That was enough to clinch top spot in Group B, securing a place in Group 2 of the Super 12 and match-ups against the likes of India and New Zealand in the next round.
It is a remarkable run for the team, but Watt insists they are not done yet – citing a one-day victory over England in 2018, a year before their own world title, as proof of the Scots’ ability to go toe-to-toe with the best.
He said: “I think we’re going to make a few upsets. I don’t see why not, we’ve done it before. We’ve beaten the best ODI team in the world, we’ve beaten Bangladesh just there and we’re on a really good run of form.
“I think teams won’t take us lightly and they should be worried about Scotland. We’re on a great run of form and have a lot of momentum going forward.”
He even joked about the prospect of bowling to Virat Kohli, saying: “I’ve got quite a few plans for Virat, I’m going to keep them hush-hush at the moment, but I think he should be worried.”
As well as the chance to cause a few upsets, this also gives Scotland the opportunity to match up against the world’s best sides in five further matches in the Super 12 stage – an opportunity that Watt is relishing.
He added: “That’s why you play the game, to play against the big stars. You want to challenge yourself against the best and they are certainly the best in the world.
“All the guys are buzzing to showcase their skills against the whole world and that’s why you want to get to the World Cup, to play against the best players and the best teams to challenge yourself.”
Oman, meanwhile, saw their hopes of making the Super 12 ended as they were bowled out for 122 after electing to bat first.
Losing star batter Jatinder Singh for a duck when he was run out second ball proved too much of an obstacle to overcome for the host nation.
And skipper Zeeshan Maqsood admitted that his team were never able to fight their way back into it because of the pressure that Scotland put them under.
He said: “Jatinder’s first over run-out was hard for us. We didn’t expect that because he’s our in-form player. We fought very well but we were 30 or 40 runs short. If we had scored 150+, there would have been more chance of winning the game but Scotland played very well, they showed that maturity in their batting. They never gave us a chance to come back into the match.
“Overall I’m happy with how the players have played. We back the decision to bat first, but not the way we played. There are a lot of areas to improve and a lot of positive things that we have taken from other teams. Where we went wrong, we will correct those mistakes and we will come back strong.”
