On the opening day of the 2021 T20 World Cup, Scotland delivered one of the great upsets, toppling Bangladesh by six runs in an incredible fightback.

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The Scots found themselves 53-6 at one point, only for an all-round show from Chris Greaves and an air-tight combined team bowling performance to drag them to victory.

Greaves, playing just his second T20I, and in the side largely for his bowling, hit 46 off 28 to drag Scotland up to 140-9. Given Oman had chased 131 without losing a wicket earlier in the day, and Bangladesh’s pedigree as an international side, few gave Scotland a hope still, but two early wickets and parsimony throughout kept them in the hunt.

Greaves struck with his first ball, Shakib Al Hasan pulling a long hop to deep midwicket for a 28-ball 20, and his side seized on the opening, eventually securing victory by six runs and immediately drawing the plaudits of the cricketing world.

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While the quality of Scotland’s performance wasn’t in doubt, how to quantify it was. Given how assured they looked, did it count as an upset?

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This was Scotland’s second win in 22 attempts at the World Cup stage, but their second in two games after beating Hong Kong in their final fixture at the 2016 World T20, and there was plenty of reflection on what the result meant for the team as a whole.

Given Greaves’ all-round show, there was plenty of praise for him, but other members of the Scottish team received kind words too.

In the end, perhaps the result was guaranteed, based on the strength of Scotland’s kit alone!

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ScotlandBangladesh Series Editorial