Kolkata: Veteran leg-spinner Adil Rashid returned with figures of 3/36 before Tom Banton smashed an unbeaten fifty in the middle overs to guide England to a comfortable five-wicket win over Scotland in a T20 World Cup Group C match in Kolkata Saturday.
Opting to bowl first, England rode on Rashid’s exploits to bowl out Scotland for 152.
Pacer Jofra Archer and left-arm spinner Liam Dawson also chipped in with two wickets apiece.
Captain Richie Berrington top-scored for Scotland with a 32-ball 49 while opener Michael Jones contributed 33.
Chasing, England didn’t have the best of starts losing both their openers — Phil Salt and Jos Buttler — inside two overs.
But Jacob Bethell (32 off 28 balls) and Banton (63 not out off 41 balls) shared 66 runs for the third wicket to get England’s chase back on track.
Sam Curran played a 20-ball 28-run short cameo, while Will Jacks made unbeaten 16 off 10 balls towards the end as England chased down the target of 153 with 10 balls to spare.
Brief Scores.
Scotland: 152 all out in 19.4 overs (Richie Berrington 49; Adil Rashid 3/36).
England: 155 for 5 in 18.2 overs (Tom Banton 63 not out; Oliver Davidson 1/12).
