T20 World Cup: Scotland open against West Indies in quest for Super 12s

Captain Richie Berrington will lead Scotland in three first round matches in Tasmania

Before last year's T20 World Cup, Scotland's record in ICC tournaments didn't exactly make for pretty reading.

In the 50-over format, Scotland have lost all 16 of their World Cup games, and prior to 2021, they had just one T20 World Cup win - a rain-affected victory over Hong Kong in Nagpur in 2016.

When Scotland arrived at last year's T20 World Cup, hosted in the UAE and Oman, they had a point to prove. They produced a huge upset to defeat Bangladesh by six runs in their opening game and then beat Papua New Guinea and Oman with relative ease to rub shoulders with the big boys in the Super 12s.

"It shows that at this level we can mix it with the best," said Scotland vice-captain Matthew Cross. "The way we beat Bangladesh in a tight game, where we were behind the eight ball, shows how good we can be."

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Despite notable performances from Mark Watt and Michael Leask, Scotland lost every game in the second stage of the tournament. They will look back on their four-wicket loss to Namibia with regret. It was the best chance to secure another win, but they could not recover from an early batting collapse.

There is no question that the presence of associate nations enhance global tournaments. The opportunity for Scotland's players to face up against Virat Kohli, Babar Azam and Kane Williamson is priceless - it is the only way that smaller nations will improve and continue to grow the game.

To Australia then, and the latest chance for Scotland to shine in front of a global cricketing audience. Their first objective is to match their achievement from last year and reach the Super 12s.

"To get through would be a special achievement," Cross said. "It's a pretty tough group; we're probably going to have to win two games."

It is largely the same group of players that took the field last year - the major change is that Kyle Coetzer retired from T20 internationals in the summer, and has been replaced as captain by evergreen allrounder Richie Berrington.

Durham's Michael Jones, Somerset's Josh Davey and Hampshire's Brad Wheal all bring county pedigree and Watt also impressed in a stint with Derbyshire over the summer.

Berrington's side have been drawn against West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland, with the top two progressing.

"I think we can take a lot of confidence from the white ball cricket we've played this year, certainly in a strong position in terms of the one-day stuff," Berrington said. "We're really looking forward to this World Cup."

All three group games will take place at Bellerive Oval in Hobart, starting against West Indies on Monday.

Scotland are the lowest ranked of the four sides, and have been deprived of international fixtures in this format, playing just three T20s since the last World Cup. Their final warm-up game against UAE was washed out, but they are still in with a shout of causing an upset.

"You can't do much about the weather," Cross said. "We're coming off a lot of domestic cricket and ODI cricket. The guys are prepped and ready, it's just about little adjustments."

West Indies, two-time champions in this competition and traditional giants of the T20 format, are a side in transition. Gone are Andre Russell, Keiron Pollard and DJ Bravo, while they are also without their best player Shimron Hetmeyer, who missed his flight to Australia and was dumped from the squad.

They still possess star quality in Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder, but Scotland will fancy their chances.

"It's a different West Indies side, but these guy have got lots of experience in leagues all round the world, so we won't be taking anything for granted," said Berrington.

Ireland possess players like Paul Stirling and Josh Little who have shone in global franchise leagues and Zimbabwe recently beat Australia in a famous ODI victory. Should Scotland perform to the best of their abilities though, there is no reason why they cannot reach the Super 12s again.

"I think we've got as good a chance as anyone," Cross said. "We've played all three teams in recent years and beaten them - we're up for the challenge."