T20
Scotland To Topple England At T20 Cricket World Cup?
England are heavy cricket betting favourites for their clash with Scotland in the T20 World Cup on Saturday. The teams are meeting at Eden Gardens with one win apiece in the competition, following England’s loss to the West Indies on Wednesday.
A narrow win over Nepal and a 30-run loss to the West Indies marks an uninspiring start for England. Scotland bounced back from defeat to the West Indies with a drubbing of Italy, which featured a blistering 84 from George Munsey and four wickets for Michael Leask.
The only other previous T20I between these nations was in the T20 World Cup two years ago. That match was rained out with Scotland on 90/0 after 10 overs. William Hill prices England as 1/10 favourites for this match, but the pressure is on Harry Brook’s men.
Defeat will bring a premature end to England’s World Cup campaign. Despite some impressive hitting and a masterful spell from Adil Rashid on Wednesday, England have underwhelmed.
The bowling has largely been disappointing. Jofra Archer hasn’t look like his usual self, Luke Wood and Jamie Overton have gone the distance, and the backup spinners haven’t been consistent enough.
Scotland’s Outlook
Scotland’s confidence is high. They know they are overmatched man-for-man against England, but T20 matches are more volatile than longer forms of cricket.
Yes, England are a completely different challenge to Italy. It is, though, worth remembering that Scotland bowled well in the powerplay against the West Indies and have seen multiple of their batters post scores of note already in this competition.
Mark Watt went at only six an over against Italy. If Leask can make early inroads, the pressure will be on Tom Banton, Brook, and co. to rescue England’s innings.
England’s Weaknesses
England were a special Sam Curran over away from being knockout out of the World Cup at the earliest possible stage. Their bowling has been subpar.
Will Jacks has gone the distance. Archer hasn’t had the necessary control. Curran has been expensive outside of his death bowling against Nepal. They can’t seem to decide between Jamie Overton and Luke Wood as the third seamer, with neither doing enough to nail down a place in the side.
With the bat, it’s been a familiar story. England are ferocious against quick bowling. Spinners have been their Achilles heel, though, with Nepal and the West Indies bamboozling several England batters.
Too often England’s batters have looked lost against slow, turning deliveries. Half-hearted shots have been all too common.
England v Scotland Best Bet
- England to Win, Jos Buttler Over 25 Runs, & George Munsey Over Two Fours (5/2)
Munsey has 16 fours across the first two matches of this tournament, with three against the Windies and 13 against Italy. Archer is threat with the new ball, of course, but Munsey is going to have plenty of boundary opportunities in the early going with how loosely England’s quicks have bowled.
Jos Buttler hasn’t been at his destructive best of late. He’s still scored 25 or more runs in three out of the last four matches. The only time he went under was his 21 against the West Indies.
Given his majestic performance on Wednesday, Rashid to be England’s top bowler and England to hit the most sixes at 18/5 is also a bet worth considering. How many Scots will be able to pick his variations?
*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*
