England captain Harry Brook admits his side have still yet to produce the ‘perfect game’ during the T20 World Cup, despite moving on the brink of Super 8s qualification with victory over Scotland.
Tom Banton’s unbeaten 63 from 41 balls inspired England to a five-wicket win over Scotland in Kolkata, where they chased down their target of 153 with 10 balls to spare to claim a second victory of the tournament.
The hard-fought win follows a nervy four-run victory over Nepal in their Group C opener and a 30-run loss to the West Indies on Wednesday, lifting them second in the table and maintaining their push towards the next round.
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England’s Jacob Bethell reflects on his side’s nervous start against Scotland and their hopes for the rest of the tournament
England still need to beat Italy on Monday – live from 9.30am on Sky Sports Cricket – to guarantee their progress to the Super 8s, with Brook hoping for more from his side in their final group-stage match.
“We haven’t quite had that perfect game yet,” Brook said in his post-match interview. “They [group matches] have all been a little big niggly so far. Hopefully we can have an easier game against Italy, play our cricket that everybody knows and loves, and we can put smiles on some faces back home.
“I’m not quite sure to be honest [why they haven’t reached their best], we just haven’t hit our strengths so far. Hopefully that comes! We don’t want to hit it too early, but we obviously want to get through the group stages and the match against Italy can be the start of the rise.”
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England captain Harry Brook reflects on their challenges so far this T20 World Cup campaign, with hopes of playing their best cricket in their upcoming game against Italy
England’s victory is their 12th in their last 14 T20Is, a run stretching back to last February and including a series win in Sri Lanka last month, with former World Cup winning-captain Eoin Morgan believing it’s too early to judge Brook’s side on their performances so far.
“It doesn’t feel necessarily if it [England’s best] is there yet,” Morgan told Sky Sports. “Group stage games in any World Cup are sometimes the most difficult games to play in, because you’re begging and stealing to get to the latter stages.
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Jofra Archer reached 50 wickets for England in T20Is by taking two in an over early in Scotland’s innings
“England are doing that at the moment and you can’t knock it. When we won the T20 World Cup in 2010, we went through on net run rate. England, in the last T20 World Cup in 2024, made the semi-finals having scraped through on net run rate.
“The one they [England] won in Australia [2022] they did in very similar circumstances, so I would be reluctant to judge how their template is going at the moment. There’s a different set of challenges in front of them and one they overcame here [against Scotland].”
England reduced Scotland from 113-3 to 127-8 before bowling them out for 152 inside 19.4 overs, with Adil Rashid (3-36), Jofra Archer (2-24) and Jamie Overton (2-34) impressing, then bounced back from losing both openers in the first two overs and then slipping to 86-4 to close out victory.
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Jos Buttler gave his wicket away early as he skied it to Brandon McMullen, leaving England two down early in their run chase against Scotland
Banton forged a 66-run stand with Jacob Bethell (32) and added partnerships with Sam Curran (28) and Will Jacks (16 not out), with England now on four points from their first three matches and with qualification firmly in their own hands.
“We got points in the bag and I thought our bowlers did outstanding,” Bethell told Sky Sports. “It was a nervy start with the bat – it felt like the ball swung more in the second innings – but Banton did unbelievably to get us over the line.
Will Jacks (left) closed out victory with back-to-back boundaries
“It looked like he chose the right options, taking bowlers down the ground, so we will take that into our next game against Italy. One more match, one more win and we get through.”
Brook added: “I am just glad we got over the line. Scotland were getting ahead of us at times but we managed to drag it back with the ball. Jofra Archer got his lines and lengths perfect today and bowled gas again with good skill as well.
“Tom Banton was awesome with the bat and has slid in nicely at No 4. He looks to take down the spinners and it came off today. We knew it was a decent wicket and wasn’t going to change and it was a fast outfield as well. We didn’t need to take unnecessary risks.”
The latest Group C table at the Men’s T20 World Cup (as of February 14)
England’s T20 World Cup fixtures and results (first round)
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