England’s bid to defend their T20 World Cup trophy suffers a blow as the weather denies them a chance to overcome Scotland in their opening fixture.
England have suffered disappointment in their opening T20 World Cup game with Scotland after it was prevented from reaching a conclusion due to the weather.
Jos Buttler and his side had wanted to make a fast start to the tournament, particularly with Australia to come in Group B, but the Barbados rain prevented them from doing so.
The downpours initially delayed the start to the match before two separate periods of rain ensured that only 10 overs were possible.
Scotland were at the crease for that period, only after the game had been reduced to that period after the second downpour when the minnows were on 51-0 after 6.2 overs.
Michael Jones and George Munsey were the players at the crease, putting on a brilliant unbeaten 90-run opening-wicket stand in testing circumstances.
Both players posted very similar records, Jones making 45 off 30 and Munsey reaching 41 off 31, with each batsman hitting four boundaries and two maximums.
What a shot from George Munsey 🤯 pic.twitter.com/wyOsf6MBNv
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 4, 2024
At one point, it appeared that Mark Wood had dismissed Munsey for 16, only for a no-ball to be signalled, and that summed up England’s poor effort with the ball and in the field.
As a result of the DSL rule, England were set a target of 109 from their 10 overs, yet they did not have an opportunity to begin their run-chase.
What are the consequences of the draw?
In terms of net-run-rate, no team has really missed out. Namibia’s super-over win over Oman means that all four teams are now at a level net-run-rate.
While Scotland would have fancied their chances of defending 109, they also know that avoiding defeat against the defending champions is very much a bonus.
Furthermore, England face Australia in their next fixture aware that they can ill-afford a defeat if they want to keep achieving a top-two spot in their own hands.
That encounter is due to take place on Saturday, Australia first taking on Oman on Thursday with the chance to build a sizeable net-run-rate lead.
