Hobar: Taking inspiration from their shock 42-run win over West Indies in their opening Group B match in first round of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Scotland coach Shane Burger is confident of executing their plans right on Friday to upstage their opponents Zimbabwe in order to qualify for Super 12 stage of the tournament for second straight time in as many editions.
“We know that without focusing too much on the opposition, if we go out and play our way, we know we can beat any team. We did so not very long ago against the two-time world champions (West Indies). So if we execute the way we know, hopefully it will send ripples through that Zimbabwe team. We can put a bit more pressure on them,” said Burger in the pre-match press conference.
After the victory over West Indies, Scotland were well on their way to get another win against Ireland till the duo of Curtis Campher (72 not out) and George Dockrell (39 not out) launched a counter-attacking match-winning stand of 119 to chase down 176, something which looked highly improbable when they were at 61/4 in ten overs.
“There was obvious disappointment after the game (against Ireland). It wasn’t just one moment but many moments. Hindsight is a great thing. As a Scottish team, we are not used to be in those situations on a daily basis. I am incredibly proud of how the boys have managed themselves on and off the field. We will learn a lot from what happened yesterday,” stated Burger.
There was a positive coming out from Scotland in their defeat to Ireland: of young opener Michael Jones hitting a magnificent 86 off 55 balls, hitting six fours and four sixes at a high strike-rate of 156.36 apart from being the glue which held the innings together single-handedly.
“Michael has fit into the unit very well. He has been part of the unit for a long time, even though many might not recognise the name. He didn’t play a lot of games for Scotland (till now). We always knew he was going to break through at some point, we always knew his quality.”
“We certainly saw glimpses of that (during the match). We know that he wants to keep getting better. He is a wonderful cricketer, with superb skills. He had a fantastic game yesterday, but just a shame we couldn’t get over the line and get that victory,” concluded Burger.
–IANS