T20 World Cup: Tom Banton comes of age with under-pressure 63 as England edge Scotland by 5 wickets

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With Banton and Jacob Bethell in the middle, few expected England’s first proper boundary to come in the 3rd ball of the 5th over but that is what transpired as Scotland kept the English on their toes. Bethell opened the floodgates with a six, followed by back-to-back fours. England ultimately ended powerplay at 43/2, a far cry from where they would have wanted to be in at the start of the run chase.

Tom Banton in action. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

After a couple of quiet overs after powerplay, Banton switched gears as Mark Watt was introduced, depositing the spinner over the ropes for three monster sixes, mining 22 off the 9th over. Bethell and Harry Brook then fell in the space of 7 balls and England were stumbling again at 86/4.

England sputtered to their 100 in the 13th over with Scotland making it pretty tough to get boundaries with excellent fielding. Banton, however, ended the boundary-less streak with a straight hit for a four to bring up his half-century.  Sam Curran, meanwhile, played a perfect anchor to Banton, occasionally pulling off the big hits but mostly kept the innings together. He couldn’t stay till the end though, as a wild swing off Brad Wheal ended his night. The 27-year-old Banton ultimately proved to be the difference for the Three Lions.

Rashid’s star turn

Earlier, Jofra Archer struck form as he picked up two wickets in the third over to jolt Scotland early, removing George Munsey and McMullen. Michael Jones fell to Curran for 33 as Scotland ended the powerplay on 42/3.

England introduced spin right after the powerplay to pile the pressure on Scotland as Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson kept things relatively tight initially, except for occasional boundaries. All hopes of Scotland’s revival were now on the broad shoulders of captain Richie Berrington and Tom Bruce, the same partnership which had frustrated the West Indies in their first match at the Eden Gardens.

BERRINGTON OF Scotland plays a shot against England during the ICC MEN’S T20 WORLD CUP match at Eden Gardens Kolkata on Saturday, Feb 14, 2026.Express photo by Partha Paul.

And right on cue, Berrington and Bruce started growing into the match soon as they clobbered Rashid for 2 sixes and a four in just his second over before meting out the same treatment to Dawson who was smashed for 13 runs in the 10th over.  Brook brought back Curran and Jamie Overton in a bid to break the partnership but the Scottish batters kept the scoreboard ticking, bringing up their 100 in the 12th over. It would ultimately take Dawson to strike as Bruce, trying to go for a slog sweep, played it straight into the hands of Curran. Berrington departed soon after being snared by Rashid, missing his half-century by just a single run.

After that, Scotland’s resistance seemed to have broken as Leask fell to Dawson for 1 and Matthew Cross went back for 8, courtesy of Rashid. Rashid struck again in the same over with a peach of a delivery, bamboozling Mark Watt as Scotland eventually posted an under-par 152, with Berrington ruing they left 20-plus runs out there.

Brief scores: Brief scores: Scotland 152 (Richie Berrington 49, Adil Rashid 3/36) lost to England 155/5 (Tom Banton 63*, Oliver Davidson 1/12)

Sayak Dutta is Copy Editor (Sports) at The Indian Express and is based in Kolkata. He specializes in the coverage of football, cricket, and a variety of other sports. ... Read More

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