England Beat Scotland in T20 Warm Up

After winning the toss and electing to Bat, Scotland got off to a steady start in today’s Twenty20 warm up match at Trent Bridge.

Opener Fraser Watts was bowled by England seamer Dimitri Mascarenhas in the third over, bringing Durhamyoungster Kyle Coetzer to the middle to partner Captain Gavin Hamilton. The pair moved on steadily at four an over, taking few risks as Mascarenhas, Broad, and Sidebottom spearheaded an England attack with no James Anderson.

England opted to rest Anderson and Graeme Swann, which allowed Adil Rashid to come in for a first Twenty20 International.

It was the leg spinner Rashid who made an impact, collecting the wicket of Gavin Hamilton in his first over, as the Scot lofted a slog high and into the hands of Luke Wright. 

But is was Scotland who pushed on from there, with Coetzer and Smith at the crease, they took advantage of the slow bowling of Kevin Peiterson and Rashid, smashing both of the spinners for more than ten an over, bringing the run rate up to just a little more than seven an over as England brought pace-man Stuart Broad back into the attack.

The introduction of Broad didn’t slow the rate at all, but the varied medium pace of Paul Collingwood was more successful as Coetzer lofted his Durham teammate to Long On, where Pietersen held on to send the number three back to the pavilion for an impressive 34 from 35 balls.

Collingwood went on to claim the wicket of Colin Smith, who had blasted his way to 45 from just 32 balls as Scotland struggled to keep up the scoring rate, finishing on 136-5 and leaving England with a relatively small target to aim for.

Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright were charged with the task of opening the innings, and they got off to a steady but unexplosive start working the ball around to keep the score ticking over in the first few overs. 

But England lost their first wicket in the seventh over as Luke Wright started to push on striking a couple of boundaries before being caught at mid-off from the bowling of Jan Stander. 

Bopara was not far behind Wright in heading back to the football style dug-outs, after being caught out on the boundary, although he looked more impressive reaching 32 from 28 deliveries, with four fours and a six to his name.

Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood didn’t last long either, with Shah being caught on his first ball, and Collingwood only  making 9, although this allowed Eoin Morgan some time at the crease, and along with Pietersen, who had a shaky start, they same England home for a pretty unconvincing win over a team with far less quality.

Morgan finished on 23 from just 17 balls, while Pietersen completed a half century to end the game unbeaten on 53.  Both batters impressed, and showed a hint of the form that will be needed if England are to compete in the Tournament proper, but they are going to need the rest of the team to step up and perform a lot better with the bat if they are to compete with the likes of Australia, South Africa, and India.