Bridgetown, June 7 (IANS) After playing a vital hand in Scotland’s chase of 156 against Namibia in the Men’s T20 World Cup through a match-winning 17-ball 35, Michael Leask said it won’t come as a surprise to him or his team if the side manages to top the Group B table.
With their first T20I win over Namibia, Scotland have now three points from their first two matches, one coming due to the washout against England.
“We’ve got a hell of a squad. It’s no surprise to us (that we are on top of the table now). It might be a surprise to some. England will probably say it was a surprise to them the other day that we’re 90 off 10 overs.
“It doesn’t surprise me, as this team’s got great depth. We’ve played together for a number of years. We’ve got some new fresh blood so it doesn’t really surprise us that we’re in this position. We’ve got two more huge games and why can’t we top the group at the end of it then?” said Leask in the post-match press conference.
Scotland now have matches against Oman and Australia coming up and need to win them if they are to consolidate their top position in Group B and progress to the Super Eight stage. Oman, their next Group game opponents, lost to Namibia via a Super Over contest and had Australia at 50-3.
“Well we’re only top of the table with two games to go and those two could put us bottom of the table. So, we’ve still got a lot of cricket to play, there’s still 80 overs of cricket to play and there’s still a lot of other teams to do a lot of other things as well. So, we can only do what we can control. We’ve got Oman on Sunday which is a huge fixture for us and then we go again.
“George and Michael showed up top (by amassing 90 runs in ten overs against England) that they’ve got the skill and ability to face the best in the world. The rest of us didn’t get that opportunity on the day to show how good we are on it. I’m not going to sit here and say Australia is not going to be a difficult game, I’m not going to sit here and say Oman is not going to be a difficult game.
“Because I know how tough the associate game is, Oman is yet to fire, it could be against us. So, we’re going to have to bring our A game against both teams. For us that’s what we have do on every given day, we take each game, game by game and look at the opponents and see what we have to adapt and bring,” elaborated Leask.
Before Scotland won over Namibia, Uganda picked their first T20 World Cup win over Papua New Guinea. Shortly after, co-hosts USA defeated Pakistan in a thrilling Super Over at Dallas, making this period a surreal time for Associate cricket nations in the tournament.
“You’re remembering that Zimbabwe aren’t here; we have also got team other teams that are missing and so there’s other teams that could also be here and strengthen this World Cup. The more teams, the better for me. You’ve seen today a fantastic associate game of cricket.
“You’ve seen another associate take on a full member and win. Associates get the associate tag, but we fight well above our weight and I believe we deserve a lot more recognition than that.
“Yes, Uganda are playing their first tournament, they’ve had their first win in two days, they’ve played two games, they’ve got their first win. So, for me it just shows the strength and depth in associate cricket,” concluded Leask.
–IANS
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