T20 World Cup: West Indies join Sri Lanka in suffering shock defeat as Scotland triumph

By Sports Desk October 17, 2022

Scotland, spearheaded by the superb bowling of Mark Watt and Michael Leask, claimed a shock win over West Indies to get off to a flyer at the T20 World Cup.

Having seen Namibia stun Sri Lanka on Sunday, Scotland sealed a famous 42-run triumph against the two-time T20 world champions at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Monday.

It was the first T20I meeting between the teams and brought up Scotland's first win in the format this year. For the Windies, 2022 is now their worst year on record in terms of T20I defeats (14).

"Obviously it is a special win for us," said Scotland captain Richard Berrington, whose side snapped a seven-game losing run in T20Is. "It took a lot of work and has given us belief."

While the credit will go to Scotland's brilliant bowlers, opening batter George Munsey set the tone with an unbeaten 66.

Munsey struck nine boundaries as he stayed at the crease throughout Scotland's innings, guiding them to 160-5 as the Windies bowlers failed to get going.

Jason Holder was the pick of the bunch with 2-14 from three overs, moving him onto 48 T20I wickets, but Odean Smith (1-31) and Akeal Hosein (0-31) struggled to make the same impact.

Holder was the only Windies batter to step up and be counted, too, with his 38 the only score above 20 for Nicholas Pooran's team.

Watt was fantastic, claiming 3-12 – his first wicket, when he bowled the dangerous Brandon King, sparking a collapse as the Windies lost six for just 21 runs to fall from 58-2 to 79-7.

Leask claimed his two wickets – Pooran and Rovman Powell – as part of that run, and West Indies' defeat was confirmed when Chris Greaves plucked Holder's stray shot. 

"Tough loss for us, obviously disappointed," said Pooran, who must rally the Windies for matches against Zimbabwe and Ireland.

"We have to work hard and win two games. We have to take accountability and responsibility."

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    Scotland have confirmed that Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Stuart Armstrong has been recalled to Steve Clarke's ranks ahead of their upcoming Nations League fixtures. 

    The Scots face Croatia at Hampden Park on Friday before taking on Poland in Warsaw three days later in the hope of picking up points in their bid for League A survival. 

    This will be Armstrong's first appearance for his country since Euro 2024. He played for just 14 minutes in Scotland's loss to Hungary in their final group game of the tournament.

    The 32-year-old's inclusion comes after the New York Red Bulls' Lewis Morgan and Torino's Che Adams pulled out, though Clarke confirmed he was happy with his forward options. 

    Morgan has impressed in the MLS this season, registering 20 goal involvements (13 goals, seven assists) in the regular season for Sandro Schwarz's side. 

    His 49 chances created is a total only bettered by John Tolkin (59) for the Red Bulls, while he also helped his side in their recent playoff series win over the Columbus Crew. 

    Adams missed Torino's 2-0 defeat to Juventus last Saturday with a thigh injury, but upon further assessment from the Serie A side, has been ruled out of international duty. 

    Scotland sit bottom of Group A1 after picking up one point from their first four games, which came in their last Nations League encounter with Portugal. 

    Clarke's side, however, are both on their longest ever winless run at home (six games – D3 L3) and longest run without a victory in competitive fixtures (10 games - D4 L6).

    They could also level their longest overall streak without a win, set in 1998 (nine games – D3 L5 currently), if they fall to defeat on Friday. 

    Croatia, however, have never won away in Scotland (D2 L1), with this their first trip to Hampden Park since October 2013, losing 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier.

  • Ireland ready to respond after 'honest' New Zealand chat, says Hansen Ireland ready to respond after 'honest' New Zealand chat, says Hansen

    Mack Hansen has backed Ireland to bounce back from their 23-13 defeat to New Zealand that saw their 19-game home winning streak come to an end.

    The loss also saw Ireland tumble from atop the world rankings to third as the All Blacks repeated their World Cup quarter-final success from last year, and also marked New Zealand's first win on Irish soil since 2016. 

    Ireland had previously won 25 of their 26 home games under Andy Farrell, which was their longest run on home soil, with their latest defeat before last Friday coming against France in 2021 (13-15). 

    While questions have been asked of a team that have been beaten in three of their past five matches, Hansen was adamant that the mood is not dampened ahead of Friday’s visit of Argentina. 

    "People are always very eager to jump on you when you’re down. It’s like in South Africa, nobody gave them a hope after the first Test," said Hansen. 

    “And what happens? They come back and win it. That’s the best thing about this group. The outside noise is outside noise and nobody knows what goes on in here, how hard we work and how resilient we are.

    "People can chat away. The people who know us know, unfortunately, it was one of those weeks [against New Zealand], but we’re ready to bounce back.”

    Ireland's display was littered with errors against the All Blacks, which included 21 handling mistakes, 30 missed tackles and 13 penalties conceded at the Aviva Stadium. 

    But eradicating those mistakes could prove difficult when they face Argentina on Friday, who come into the encounter on the back of a 50-18 thrashing of Italy. 

    ​Ireland, however, have not lost to the Pumas since the 2015 World Cup quarter-final and have beaten them on the three subsequent occasions they have played in Dublin.

    And Hansen is confident his team-mates can respond against Felipe Contepomi's side and continue their impressive run against Argentina. 

    “There weren’t really hard chats, just honest chats,” added Hansen on Monday's debrief. 

    "We came to the conclusion that it wasn’t good enough and also that it just wasn’t us.

    "So this week we’re looking to right a lot of wrongs and no better place to do it then back in the Aviva in front of a home crowd."

  • No disappointment for 'proud' Scotland coach Townsend No disappointment for 'proud' Scotland coach Townsend

    Gregor Townsend was immensely proud of his Scotland side after they pushed world champions South Africa close in a thrilling Test.

    Scotland ultimately went down 15-32 on Sunday, though the 17-point margin of victory flattered South Africa at Murrayfield.

    The Springboks were fortunate that Scotland failed to capitalise on a period of intense pressure during the second half, in which the hosts created plenty of opportunities.

    To make Scotland's task harder, they had to play 20 minutes of the second half with 14 players after Scott Cummings was given a yellow card that was upgraded to a 20-minute red.

    Makazole Mapimpi scored two first-half tries for South Africa, with Thomas du Toit and Jasper Wiese also going over. Scotland did not score a try, with Finn Russell kicking all of their points.

     

    "There is not that much disappointment, to be honest," Scotland coach Townsend reflected.

    "I'm proud. It was one of our best performances in the last two or three years, built on effort and physicality.

    "We put ourselves in positions to score points. It was frustrating not to get that try before half-time, but we put in a huge effort.

    "We needed to be ahead of the scoreboard in the final ten minutes, and that’s on us to make sure we are able to nail the skill and execute.

    "I thought our defence was outstanding today in holding out South Africa a few times. We were getting penalties and pressure – I thought there could have potentially been another yellow card. But there are ways we have to be better, like executing that final pass under pressure."

    Elsewhere, Wales suffered a 10th straight Test loss, equalling their worst ever run, as they went down 19-24 to Fiji in Cardiff.

    Caleb Muntz scored 19 points for Fiji, who overcame a 20-minute red card for Semi Radradra, and the pressure is mounting on Wales coach Warren Gatland ahead of meetings with Australia and South Africa.

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