SCOTLAND’S DRIVING FORCE
Greaves turns from Amazon driver to World Cup star in shock win
Scotland skipper Kyle Coetzer yesterday hailed Chris Greaves for his sacrifices that included delivering parcels for Amazon before he starred in the team’s upset win over Bangladesh in the Twenty20 World Cup.
The 31-year-old Greaves smashed 45 off 28 balls to lift Scotland from a precarious 53-6 to 140-9 in the first round match in Muscat.
He then took the two key wickets of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim with his leg spin as world No 6 Bangladesh managed just 134-9.
“It was an incredible day for him but certainly it wasn’t a surprise for us. We knew he had the ability to do this,” said Coetzer.
“Really proud of Greaves, he had to sacrifice a lot. He was delivering parcels for Amazon not long ago and now he’s getting man of the match and playing against Bangladesh.”
Remain persistent
Greaves, paying just his second international match, put on a crucial 51-run seventhwicket stand with Mark Watt, who hit 22, to take the attack to the opposition after Bangladesh elected to field first.
Fast bowler Brad Wheal returned figures of 3-24 from his four overs as Scotland remained persistent in their effort in what is their fourth appearance in the T20 World Cup.
Coetzer urged the guardians of the game to give more opportunities to the Associate Nations to show their skills at the highest level.
“The exposure is really, really important for us and any
Associate team. Sides like Scotland, Nepal or Malaysia when they perform and have a good game and win games of cricket it drives the cricket within their country,” said Coetzer.
“The youngsters’ aspire to try and play the game and when those opportunities are dried up, so to speak, it’s very hard to then encourage the cricket in the country.”
The top two teams from Group B will advance into the Super 12 stage of the World Cup.
Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah
Riyad said they had let themselves and their millions of fans down after a heartbreaking loss.
The loss hurt their chances of moving into the next stage and extended the team’s horror run in the shortest format with just one victory at the tournament since 2007.
“I think as a batting unit, I think we have disappointed ourselves, so it’s a big concern,” said Mahmudullah.
“And we need to see where we have made those mistakes and probably need to try not to repeat those mistakes in the next game.
“I think the bowlers are on the right track. We picked up six wickets I think within 60 runs, but after that they had a good partnership,” said Mahmudullah. I think they played better cricket than us, and we were just not good enough tonight.”
As a batting unit, we have disappointed ourselves. We need to see where we have made those mistakes and probably need to try not to repeat those mistakes.” Mahmadullah Riyad » Bangladesh captain