On the plus side for Eoin Morgan, his England squad now has a winning record at the World Cup against countries that are not hosting the tournament.
After heavy back-to-back losses to co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, England were under intense pressure in their Pool A match against Scotland in Christchurch, New Zealand, yesterday.
Scotland had never beaten England in a one-day international, but were confident after giving New Zealand a scare and had no hesitation in sending England in to bat after winning the toss.
Photo: AFP
Moeen Ali came to the fore, scoring 128 and sharing a 172-run opening stand with Ian Bell, who scored 54, to set England on course for a big total of 303-8.
He picked up two wickets and Steve Finn recovered from the battering he took against New Zealand to take three for 26, as England bowled Scotland out for 184 in 42.2 overs to secure a 119-run victory.
“I don’t think there was ever a state of panic,” said Morgan, who ended his own lean streak with the bat by scoring 46 from 42 deliveries. “Obviously, we had two hard games and the fact that we didn’t perform was most disappointing, but a win just puts things a little more at ease. It gives guys a little bit of confidence, even the guys who didn’t perform today will benefit from guys who have had a little bit of success today.”
England lost to Australia by 111 runs in Melbourne on the first day of the tournament, then slumped to an eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand on Friday last week after they were bundled out for 123 — the Black Caps needing only 12 overs to reach the victory target.
England had some wobbles against Scotland, with Ali, Gary Ballance (10) and Joe Root (1) all dismissed within the space of 10 balls, but Morgan held the lower order together with partnerships of 49 with James Taylor (17) and 45 with Jos Buttler (24) until he was dismissed in the last over.
Scotland started confidently in reply, with South African-born opener Kyle Coetzer making 71 runs and hitting 11 boundaries, but the loss of early wickets derailed the run chase.
“We’re very disappointed,” Scotland captain Preston Mommsen said. “We went into the halftime break pretty sure we were in with a shout. Unfortunately, with the bat we just couldn’t get going. We’re a better side than we showed today.”
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