Scotland captain Richie Berrington said his team can “hold their heads high” despite the loss to Australia ending their hopes of reaching the T20 World Cup Super Eights.
Scotland would have beaten England and progressed to the second round if they had won against Mitchell Marsh’s side in St Lucia on Sunday, but lost by five wickets as the 2021 champions reached their target of 181 with two balls remaining.
Berrington’s side posted 180 for 5, the highest score by an Associate Member State against Australia in T20 cricket, with Brandon McMullen smashing 60 off 34 balls and George Manjhi smashing 35 off 23 balls as the skipper scored 42 off 31 balls.
The final standings in Group B of the T20 World Cup saw Australia and England advance to the Super Eight.
Scotland were eliminated on net run rate after finishing the match tied with England. England had scored 90 runs in 10 overs, with Manjhi scoring 41 off 31 runs and opening partner Michael Jones scoring 45 off 30 runs, but that match was rained out earlier this month.
“The players can be very proud in terms of the cricket they have played throughout this tournament,” Berrington said.
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Highlights from Barbados. Scotland’s George Manzie and Michael Jones performed well against England, but the T20 World Cup match was called off.
“It was a great learning experience for us and a great experience for the players. It’s a shame because we were in a position to win.”
“[Australia] We have some great ball-strikers across the team and a couple of big overs in the second half got us back into the game and made it hard to come back.”
“Scotland has come a long way.”
Speaking of Scotland, Australia captain Marsh said: “They’re a really good team. They’ve improved a lot over the last few years. We have a lot of respect for them. They fought until the end.”
“T20 is a difficult format and anybody can lose if they make a small mistake. We almost lost today too. We were pushed all the way to the end and experience helped us a bit.”
Australia top Group B with eight points from four wins from four matches and will face either India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh or the Netherlands in Group 1 of the Super 8s, while England will face the West Indies, the United States and South Africa in Group 2.
Marsh added: “The World Cup is starting again and we have a lot of confidence in our team that we can continue to win cricket matches.”
Australia already hold the World Test Championship and 50-over World Cup titles, having beaten India in the finals of the respective tournaments in 2023, and will be aiming to complete an ICC Trophy treble with this World Cup.
Australia were thoroughly tested by Scotland before winning in St Lucia
Marsh’s team will visit Scotland in September for three T20 internationals, and also tour England for three T20 matches and five one-day internationals.
Every match of the T20 World Cup will be shown live on Sky Sports, including the final in Barbados on Saturday 29 June.
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