England vs Scotland Prediction & Betting Tips - ICC T20 World Cup

Prediction published on 02/06/2024, 05:44  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 03/06/2024 at 05:45 in Cricket Predictions

England will begin their ICC T20 World Cup defence this week when they take on Scotland at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. This is the first match of the competition for both these sides in Group B, which also features Australia, Namibia and Oman. The 2022 World Cup T20 champions are in excellent form, with their captain, Jos Buttler, and opening partner, Phil Salt, excelling both domestically and internationally. England's most recent match against Pakistan took place at Kennington Oval, London. Bowling first, England limited Pakistan to 157 runs. Openers Philip Salt and Buttler then forged an 82-run partnership in just 6 overs, leading England to a 7-wicket victory in the 16th over. In their last five T20I matches, England has secured two wins, suffered one loss, and had two matches abandoned. Notably, these two teams have never met in T20Is before. In their previous ODI encounters, England won three out of five matches, although Scotland managed to surprise them once in 2018.

Meanwhile, Scotland enter the T20 World Cup as one of the biggest underdogs to lift the trophy. However, a victory here would undoubtedly send a strong message to the rest of the teams in the group. Unfortunately, achieving this against the English giants will be a formidable challenge, especially given Scotland’s recent lackluster record. In their final World Cup warm-up match against Afghanistan, Scotland set a target of 178/8 but could only muster 123/9 in their 20 overs, falling short by 55 runs. Matt Watt was the only player to score over 30 runs, while Chris Sole impressed with the ball, taking 3/35 in his four overs. Looking further back, Scotland has only won one of their last five games, defeating the Netherlands by 71 runs last month. Unsurprisingly, they are considered clear underdogs in this match.