England vs. Scotland: Winners and Losers from Cricket World Cup Match
England opened their account at the World Cup, avoiding an embarrassing upset in the process, as they defeated Scotland by 119 runs in Christchurch.
Eoin Morgan's side had arrived at the Hagley Oval having already suffered heavy defeats to co-hosts Australia and New Zealand in the tournament.
However, it proved to be third time lucky for Morgan's men, meaning England have moved off the bottom of the Group A table.
They made 303-8 after being put in to bat, Moeen Ali top-scoring with 128, and then bowled their neighbours out for 184 in 42.2 overs.
Here we pick out the winners and losers from the action on Monday.
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Winner: Moeen Ali
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Moeen Ali had only managed scores of 10 and 20 in the World Cup before the game against Scotland.
However, he made the most of the chance to bat first against the ICC associate nation, smashing 128 from 105 deliveries.
The left-hander—who dominated an opening stand of 172 with Ian Bell—hit 12 fours and five sixes before holing out off the (very slow) off-spin of Majid Haq.
At one stage, it seemed as though Robin Smith's ODI-record score for England, 167 not out, was under threat, but missing out on the milestone should not bother Moeen too much.
His clean hitting and aggressive approach in the opening overs was exactly what his team needed to help ease the pressure on the rest of the top order.
Not content with his efforts with the bat, Moeen then picked up 2-47 with his off-spin.
Loser: Gary Ballance
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Gary Ballance has been a consistent performer with the bat during the World Cup so far—he has managed to make 10 in all three of England's matches.
The left-hander was drafted back into the team at the start of the tournament after missing the Carlton Mid One-Day International Tri-Series through injury.
Unsurprisingly, for someone who has played so little cricket of late, he has struggled for runs.
England kept him at three in the order, and coming to the crease with the score at 172-1, he had a glorious opportunity to fill his boots against the Scots.
Instead, he scratched around before being bowled off an inside edge; his attempts to steer a single to third man resulted in his innings coming to a premature end.
The management group will now have to consider whether it is worth sticking with the out-of-sorts Ballance for their next match, which is against Sri Lanka.
Winner: Matthew Cross and His Rapid Gloves
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Scotland deserve great credit for the way they fought back with the ball.
A total of around 350 looked on the cards for England, who had been put in to bat after losing the toss, when they reached 172 without loss with 20 overs still to go.
The underdogs, though, showed some bite to make their neighbours work hard just to get up to the 300 mark.
The highlight of their efforts in the field came from wicketkeeper Matthew Cross.
The gloveman did superbly well just to reach to his right and clasp a wide delivery from seamer Josh Davey, yet still had the presence of mind to realise James Taylor had moved out of his crease.
Cross was able to twist back toward the stumps to whip off the bails before Taylor could get back. It was a sensational stumping.
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Losers: England's Management Team
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As already mentioned, England had appeared on course for a monumental score with 20 overs to go.
However, their desire to stick to a rigid plan saw them fail to make the most of an outstanding start.
Ian Bell became the first wicket to go down at the start of the 31st over, providing the perfect situation for England to promote a power player such as Eoin Morgan or Jos Buttler.
Instead, they stuck with the initial order and sent in Gary Ballance, who never really got going.
The same situation occurred when Moeen Ali was dismissed, particularly with the batting power play looming large on the horizon. But once again, the lineup did not change. Joe Root came out at four but only made a single before edging behind.
Morgan and Buttler did eventually get to the crease, making 46 and 24 respectively, but both could have done much greater damage had they been given more time.
Winner: Steven Finn
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To say Steven Finn needed a good day at the office would be an understatement.
The paceman was the England bowler who suffered the most at the hands of Brendon McCullum in the eight-wicket hammering to New Zealand.
His two overs in Wellington went for an astonishing 49 runs. Of the 12 deliveries he sent down, half ended up being hit over the boundary rope.
Despite his struggles against the Kiwis, England did not drop the bowler for the clash with the Scots. He rewarded their faith with figures of 3-26 from nine overs.
Finn had both Matt Machan and Josh Davey caught behind by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, while Matthew Cross was well taken at first slip by Joe Root.
The spell was just what he needed, and having also taken a five-for in the opening fixture against Australia, he now has eight wickets to his name in the tournament so far.
Losers: Scotland's Batsmen Not Called Kyle Coetzer
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A target of 304 was always going to be a seriously tall order for Scotland.
Kyle Coetzer tried his best to keep them on course for what would have been a famous victory, making 71 from 84 deliveries.
Sadly, though, he received little support from the rest of his colleagues.
The Scots slipped to 54-3, and despite Coetzer combining with skipper Preston Mommsen (26) in a stand worth 60 for the fourth wicket, the two well-set batsmen departed in successive overs.
They will hope to perform better with the bat on Thursday, when they go up against fellow Group A strugglers Afghanistan at the University Oval in Dunedin.
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