Scotland captain Richie Berrington says his side can “hold their heads high” after defeat to Australia ended their hopes of reaching the T20 World Cup Super 8s.
Scotland would have advanced into the second round at England’s expense had they beaten Mitchell Marsh’s team in St Lucia on Sunday but lost by five wickets as the 2021 champions reached their target of 181 with two balls to spare.
Berrington’s men racked up the highest score by an associate nation against Australia in T20 cricket of 180-5, with the skipper contributing 42 from 31 balls after Brandon McMullen thumped 60 from 34 and George Munsey hit 35 from 23.
Scotland were knocked out on net run-rate after finishing level on points with England, a side they smashed for 90 runs from 10 overs – Munsey nailing 41 from 31 and opening partner Michael Jones 45 from 30 – before that game was rained off earlier this month.
Berrington said: “The guys can hold their heads high in terms of how they’ve played their cricket throughout this tournament.
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Highlights from Barbados where Scotland’s George Munsey and Michael Jones impressed against England before their T20 World Cup clash was washed out
“It’s great learning for us, great experience for the guys. We’re disappointed because we were in a position where we could win.
“[Australia] have great ball strikers all the way through the team and a few big overs in the back end got them back into the game and made it hard to pull back.”
‘Scotland have improved a hell of a lot’
On Scotland, Australia captain Marsh said: “They are a really good outfit. They’ve improved a hell of a lot over the last few years. We’ve got a lot of respect for them, they took it down to the wire.
“T20 is a hard format, you can be slightly off and lose to anyone – as we almost saw today. We were pushed right to the end there and a bit of experience came through.”
Australia finished top of Group B on eight points after four wins from four and will meet India, Afghanistan and one of Bangladesh or Netherlands in Super 8s Group 1, with England to take on West Indies, USA and South Africa in Group 2.
Marsh added: “The World Cup starts again now. We’ve got a lot of trust in our group that we can keep winning games of cricket.”
Australia are aiming to complete an ICC trophy treble at this World Cup as they already hold the World Test Championship and 50-over World Cup titles, defeating India in the finals of those respective tournaments in 2023.
Australia were thoroughly tested by Scotland before winning in St Lucia
Marsh’s side will also visit Scotland in September for three T20 internationals, on a tour of the UK which will also include three T20s and five one-day internationals against England.
Catch every match from the T20 World Cup, including the final in Barbados on Saturday June 29, live on Sky Sports.
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