The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Scotland opener Kyle Coetzer on the attack in yesterday’s 48-run Twenty20 defeat by Pakistan at Grange in Edinburgh.
T20: 48-run defeat by Pakistan a ‘reality check’ for Saltires
Grant Bradburn admitted Scotland let Pakistan off the hook as they missed out on taking another major scalp.
Having taken out the world’s top oneday international side with Sunday’s historic win over England, the Saltires were looking to complete a remarkable double by toppling the number one ranked Twenty20 nation.
But despite making a decent start with the ball at the Grange in Edinburgh, they allowed the tourists to set a target of 205 before falling short in their run chase as they stuttered to 156 for six.
Bradburn refused to be too hard on his team just two days after seeing them become the first Scottish XI to ever beat the Auld Enemy.
But, after seeing them miss a number of chances to turn up the heat on Pakistan, the head coach admitted their 48-run defeat was a reality check.
He said: “We’re gutted, which is a great sign of where our team is at. We backed ourselves to compete and win against the number one team in the world and we’re disappointed we didn’t manage that.
“It’s definitely encouraging that we were competitive for much of the match but we’re not just about competing. Whether it’s Namibia, Papua New Guinea, the Dutch or the number one team in the world, we want to extend our skills and push them to what is required to win games against the very best.
“We were 50 runs short and I sense there was 30 runs in the bowling and 20 runs with the bat that we left out there. That’s the fine margins.”
Sunday’s six-run 50-over win against England sparked wild celebrations but Bradburn insists it was a lack of practice in the shorter format which hampered his side and not a hangover from the weekend’s jubilant scenes.
“It wasn’t difficult at all to get the boys focused again,” said Bradburn, whose side will have a second chance to beat Pakistan when they face off again today.
“They have been on a high and rightly so.
“They’ve deserved all the accolades they’ve been receiving.
“I think the challenge for us was just to remember how to play this game because we haven’t played T20 since early 2017.
“We’ve been playing a bit of regional stuff and the guys love T20, but as you saw, if you’re just not quite sharp enough then in two or three overs you can fall well behind the game.”