Following England's victory against Namibia in a shortened game in Antigua, the equation for Scotland to qualify for the Super Eights of the 2024 T20 World Cup became clear: they needed to make sure that they didn't lose.
Australia, who had given conflicting comments ahead of the clash about how they are going to approach the Scotland game, won the toss and fielded first. Josh Hazlewood, who had talked about the possibility of Australia limitting their victory margin in order to knock out England, and Pat Cummins, who had dismissed any such possibility and said that Australia would come out all guns blazing, were both rested and replaced by Nathan Ellis and Ashton Agar.
So Australia have left out Hazlewood and Cummins, the one who said, yeah, we should throw the Scotland game to knock England out, and the one who said they’d never consider doing anything of the sort. Elite mind games
— Ben Gardner (@Ben_Wisden) June 16, 2024
Sloppy in the field
Scotland came out with the positive intent that the situation demanded. After opener Michael Jones was bowled by Agar in the first over, George Munsey (35 off 23) and Brandon McMullen (60 off 34) stitched an 89-run second-wicket partnership in just eight overs, giving England fans a scare.
Six dropped chances in the field for Australia tonight so far, they’ll be frustrated given how strong that aspect of their game is.
— Henry Moeran (@henrymoeranBBC) June 16, 2024
They were, however, helped by Australia's shambolic catching, led by their skipper Mitchell Marsh, who dropped three catches during the Scotland innings. Here's an account of the chances that Australia missed.
Drop 1: Marsh
Munsey drove a half volley from Mitchell Starc uppishly towards wide mid-off on the second ball of the fourth over. Marsh leapt but couldn't time his jump right. Munsey was batting on two off eight at that point.
Drop 2: Head
Four balls later, Travis Head missed a slightly more difficult chance at cover. McMullen smashed a drive off Starc towards the right of Head, who dived full length and got both hands to the ball, but shelled it as he hit the ground. McMullen added 48 off 24 balls after the drop.
Drop 3: Marsh
Richie Berrington was the next Scottish batter to get a reprieve when Marsh failed to time his jump once again, this time at cover off the bowling of Glenn Maxwell. Berrington smashed a short ball over Marsh's head and the Australia captain could only get his fingertips to it. Berrington made 38 off 25 after the drop.
Drop 4: Zampa
Matthew Cross pulled a bouncer by Starc on the last ball of the 14th over towards long leg where Adam Zampa failed to judge the ball as it burst through his hands to go for six.
Drop 5: Marsh
Marsh dropped his third catch of the night on the first ball of the 15th over. Berrington played an uncontrolled cut shot towards cover where Marsh dived forward but couldn't hold on to the ball, hurting his fingers in the process.
Drop 6: Wade
The very next ball after Marsh's third drop, Matthew Wade shelled a tough chance behind the stumps. Cross attempted a sweep after shuffling across but only managed to get a deflection off his glove through to the wicketkeeper, who wasn't able to hold on.
Not sure when Australia were last this sloppy in the field. And, no, that's not a dog-whistle: I genuinely can't remember them being sloppier.
— Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) June 16, 2024
Scotland manage 180
Scotland finished on 180-5 from 20 overs. At one stage they were 134-3 with six overs remaining, and would have wanted to cross 200, but they gave themselves a fighting chance with a competitive total nonetheless, helped significantly by Australia's poor catching.
