T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier: Richie Berrington leads Scots to win over Jersey in 300th game
- Published
Richie Berrington marked his 300th Scotland appearance with a captain's display
T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier, Edinburgh |
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Scotland 149-6 (20 overs): Berrington 34, Munsey 33; Miles 2-25 |
Jersey 135-9 (20 overs): Ward 47, Greenwood 36; Watt 4-21 |
Scotland win by 14 runs |
Richie Berrington became the first Scot to play 300 times for his country but preferred not to discuss his own future after leading his side to a 14-run victory over Jersey in Edinburgh.
The 36-year-old captain was his side's top scorer with 34 runs as they struggled to 149-6 in their Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier.
Berrington says his focus is Monday's game against Italy as he praised the man for "big moments", Mark Watt, who followed up his own 31 with four wickets for 21 runs in Jersey's 135-9.
"Wattie has been a consistent performer for us for a long time now and we saw out in Zimbabwe how well he is batting too - and it was vital today in context of the game," Berrington told BBC Scotland.
Scotland narrowly missed out on this year's Cricket World Cup after a narrow defeat by Netherlands in Zimbabwe, but their captain thinks "there's a lot of positives to take" from that experience - notably the "number of different people" stepping up to make their mark at vital times.
That was the case again against Jersey. While opener George Munsey struck 33 and Berrington 34, the Scots were grateful to final pair Chris Greaves and man of the match Watt for adding 61 in the final 6.4 overs.
Watt then starred with the ball and, although the islanders gave it a good go with Benjamin Ward clubbing 47 not out from 29 balls, he found himself short of support once Nick Greenwood had fallen for 36.
It meant Jersey, who take on Italy on Sunday, were unable to build on their opening win over Austria while the Scots added to theirs over Germany to lead Ireland in the table on run rate.
Berrington, who made his Scotland debut in 2008 and described it as "really special" to play for his country at any time, added: "Pleasing to start with two wins.
"Today, we were maybe not as clinical as we can be with the bat in hand, but we showed the discipline and skills we have with the ball to defend 149 the way we did."