Al Amerat (Oman), Oct 19: Richie Berrington slammed a stroke-filled 70 while Josh Davey snapped four wickets as Scotland inched closer to the Super 12s with a comfortable 17-run win over Papua New Guinea in their Group B match of the ICC T20 World Cup here on Tuesday.
Scotland grabbed the top position in Group B with two wins having shocked Bangladesh in their opening game.
Berrington put on 92 runs off 65 balls with Matthew Cross before adding another 33 with Calum MacLeod (10) as Scotland posted a challenging 165 for 9 after opting to bat.
Kyle Coetzer’s men then produced a splendid bowling effort to skittle out PNG for 148 in 19.3 overs with Davey emerging as the standout bowler.
PNG thus made an early exit to their maiden campaign at the T20 World Cup following the second successive loss. They had lost to Oman by 10 wickets in their tournament opener.
Chasing 166 to win, PNG needed their batters to fire but they couldn’t get any momentum and were soon reduced to 35 for 5 in 6 overs. Norman Vanua (47) and Kiplin Doriga (18) then fought back adding 53 off 29 balls to raise hopes but Watt broke the partnership dismissing the latter in the 17th over.
Davey then returned to remove Vanua to dash PNG’s slim hopes of a maiden victory in its first global appearance.
Earlier, Berrington slammed three sixes along with six hits to the fence during his 49-ball stay to set the foundation for a big score but PNG conceded only 19 runs in the last three overs , taking six wickets in the process.
Kabua Morea (4/31) and Chad Soper (3/24) were the most successful bowlers for PNG.
Goerge Munsey hit three fours to give Scotland a solid start. In the last over, Michael Leask hit a six but PNG picked up four wickets to keep things in check. (PTI)
