T20 World Cup: Greaves helps Scotland to 140/9 after Shakib, Mahedi strikes

Inserted into batting first, Scotland lost captain Kyle Coetzer for a seven-ball duck as Mohammad Saifuddin rocked his stumps with a yorker. Matthew Cross and George Munsey stitched a 40-run partnership for the second wicket before Hasan took out the duo in a span of four balls. While Cross was trapped plumb in front of the stumps, Munsey was clean bowled.

Three overs later, it was Al Hasan's turn to wreak havoc with the ball. Richie Berrington lofted to long-on, but was caught by Afif Hossain popping the ball in the air and completing the catch after jumping back in from the boundary rope. Two balls later, Michael Leask departed for a duck, holing out to long-off. The dismissal made Al Hasan the highest wicket-taker in men's T20Is, going past Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga.

Hasan returned in the next over to rattle Calum MacLeod's off-stump. Greaves and Mark Watt counter-attacked with a 51-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Greaves began by reverse-sweeping Hossain for a boundary before dispatching a full-toss from Mustafizur Rahman with a switch hit. Watt provided support by swatting boundaries against Rahman and Al Hasan in successive overs. Greaves brought the half-century of the partnership with a thick outer edge over the third man in the 18th over.

Though Watt holed out to long-off off Taskin Ahmed, Greaves continued the charge by cutting and slapping Ahmed for three boundaries. Josh Davey's six off Saifuddin took Scotland past 130. Though Rahman dismissed Greaves and Davey on consecutive deliveries in the final over, Safyaan Sharif hit a six followed by a single to take Scotland to 140.

Brief Scores: Scotland 140/9 in 20 overs (Chris Greaves 45, George Munsey 29, Mahedi Hasan 3/19, Shakib Al Hasan 2/17) against Bangladesh

--IANS

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( 371 Words)

2021-10-17-21:44:02 (IANS)