THE only consolation for Scotland was that it was mercifully brief. Afforded a platform to show the world what they are capable of, Shane Burger’s side instead found themselves completely outplayed by an Indian side who secured an eight-wicket victory with embarrassing ease.
Sent into bat, Scotland found themselves utterly bamboozled by the twin threat of seam and spin to collapse to 85 all out from just 17.4 overs.
That was just the incentive India needed in their pursuit of a quick win to bolster their net run rate and improve their chances of reaching the T20 World Cup semi-finals.
They did not hang around, KL Rahul’s half-century from just 19 balls helping them reach their target in just 6.3 overs, ably supported by partner Rohit Sharma who added 30.
It was the perfect 33rd birthday present for captain Virat Kohli as India moved up into third place but still needing help from Afghanistan if they are to deny New Zealand a place in the last four.
From a Scottish perspective, this was another tough lesson in the improvements needed to compete against the elite of the sport. There is no shame in losing to a team of India’s calibre and class but they also did not help their chances by giving away soft wickets – like Safyaan Sharif being run out first ball – and the waywardness of their pace bowling.
Brad Wheal (15), Ally Evans (16) and Sharif (14) were all carted around the ground in their first overs with the ball, with Mark Watt again the only one to keep any sort of rein on things.
A campaign that began so promisingly with three first-round wins has turned quickly sour for Scotland who must now find a way to defeat Pakistan tomorrow if they are to claim a Super 12 victory before bowing out.
“A tough day at the office,” admitted captain Kyle Coetzer. “We were outclassed in every department today but the only way we are going to improve is by going through games like that. It wasn’t our day but the boys will still take a lot from that.
“The experience is everything for our group of players and our organisation. Obviously today didn’t go the way we wanted, but we have to go through days like today to see better days further down the road.
“It’s very important for our guys to experience that, see the high-class cricket that India played. We were not at the races but they forced us to not be at the races with the high-class execution of their skills.”
Scotland needed a strong start to give themselves any kind of chance but by the end of the power play had lost both of their openers.
George Munsey had marked his 100th cap by swiping Jasprit Bumrah for an early maximum to surpass 1500 T20I runs. That offered some early optimism that Scotland could at least make this competitive but it quickly fizzled out as the wickets started to tumble with regularity.
Coetzer was the first to go, bowled for 1 by Bumrah as India got their claws into their opponents and never let go.
Munsey added four boundaries to his maximum before throwing away his wicket for 24 on a loose shot, the first of Mohammed Shami’s three wickets.
The rest followed in a steady stream, with only Michael Leask again offering any kind of resistance with a brave knock of 21 before being trapped lbw trying to sweep man-of-the-match Ravi Jadeja.
India were never going to struggle to make 86 and they sealed it, appropriately, with a big six from Suryakumar Yadav.
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