After a rain delay at Kensington Oval, Barbados, Scotland openers did not come out all guns blazing against defending champions England in overcast conditions. They took their time and played themselves in before going after the bowlers in the powerplay overs. The fireworks were unleashed in the sixth over when Jos Buttler introduced Chris Jordan into the attack. Michael Jones hit a six so huge that it went over the stands and damaged the solar panel on the roof.
On the second ball of the sixth over, Jones stayed still and waited for the short ball. He cleared his first leg and whacked the ball a long way. The ball damaged the solar panel and had to be replaced by the umpires. Jones followed it up with two more fours, one wide of the cover and the other towards deep midwicket.
Earlier, Scotland skipper Richie Berrington won the toss and opted to bat first in their tournament opener. Mark Wood opened the bowling. He conceded just five runs including a boundary off George Munsey's bat. Jofra Archer was slightly expensive in his first over conceding 10 runs. Buttler replaced Wood with off-spinner Moeen Ali and he conceded a couple of fours. Archer came back well and conceded just two runs from his second over. Wood was brought back into the attack. He overstepped but did not concede a boundary in the over. After powerplay overs, Scotland were 49 for no loss.
“We are going to bat first, wicket looks dry. The wickets can change. It's going to be important to adapt and need to put a good score. It's an early game, could be different. Need to quickly adapt. Really excited to get this opportunity. Looking forward to this tournament. Focus is on today's game, as a team we are looking forward to the challenge. A lot of this group was a part of that game,” Berrington said after winning the toss.
Buttler was happy with the opportunity to bowl in overcast conditions as he had an extra pacer in the lineup.
“(I) Would have bowled first. It's a great ground, everyone is excited. Delighted to have Archer back, he has been bowling well. We have high hopes from him. We are going for Wood and Jordan today, we have gone in with the extra pacer,” Buttler said at the coin toss.
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