Scotland 85
India 89/2
India dominated Scotland, boosting their chances of qualifying for the T20 World Cup in 2021.
Virat Kohli, the birthday boy, had a night to remember. Everything happened just how he had planned. First and foremost, he won the coin toss. Then he stood there and watched as Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami knocked out the opposition for 85 runs. KL Rahul with 13.3 overs and eight wickets to spare, smashed 50 runs on his own to secure this beautiful victory.
India was never going to lose to Scotland, but they still needed to perform well since there was another vital box to check – the net run rate. That’s why Jasprit Bumrah opened his first over with a flurry of yorkers. Varun Chakravarthy followed him in the hopes of using his mystery spin for wickets against a group of batsmen who had never seen him before.
India’s intentions were simple, but they were brutal in their implementation. The rapid bowlers bowled hard and fast at the stumps. The spinners bowled tight and spun the ball a long distance. The hitters went out and smacked it hard.
India is presently in the third position in Group 2, ahead of Afghanistan, with the best net run rate (1.619). India will advance to the semi-finals if Afghanistan defeats New Zealand this weekend.
In T20 cricket, Jadeja devotes nearly all of his attention to limiting the batter. However, when a small turn is available, he begins to take on more duties. That was the case on Friday when he posted his best T20 international numbers. Jadeja becomes every bit as deadly as a mystery spinner as soon as he gets one ball to turn. Because he has such complete control of his art, he can spin one ball a mile – like the one that went straight through Richie Berrington – while ensuring that another just slides on straight – like the one that trapped Matthew Cross in front.
That one over, the seventh, in which India took two wickets, put them on the road to the victory they so desperately needed. Only 46 of the balls encountered by Scotland were attempted to be attacked. Despite all of this, they only managed to score 65 runs while losing five wickets.
India attacked 15 balls in the opening four overs and scored 45 runs off them. There are no wickets. That was the degree of misalignment. In the first 24 balls of the chase, Rahul and Rohit Sharma struck eight fours and two sixes, effectively ending the game.