Nicholas Pooran: We have to take accountability and responsibility

Scotland off-spinner Michael Leask (right) celebrates the wicket of WI skipper Nicholas Pooran yesterday; (right) Scotland’s George Munsey during his unbeaten 53-ball 66. Pics/AFP

Scotland dished out a perfect all-round display to stun two-time champions West Indies by 42 runs in a rain-interrupted Group B fixture of the T20 World Cup here on Monday.

Scots put in to bat

Invited to bat, Scotland put on a challenging 160 for five on the back of opener George Munsey's sparkling unbeaten 66 off 53 balls (9x4). The Scots then defended the total in style as WI, the most successful side in the T20 World Cup, folded for 118 in 18.3 overs.

West Indies must now win their next match against Zimbabwe on Wednesday to remain in contention for the Super 12 stage. The Richie Berrington-led side, on the other hand, need a win against European rivals Ireland to qualify for the Super 12 stage.

"We haven't had as many T20 games as we would've liked, but have played a lot of 50-overs cricket. It was about transferring those skills to the short form," Berrington said. Hailing their spinners effort, he added: "They've done it for us in key moments. [Left-arm spinner Mark] Watt started off well and always picks up the key wickets. [off-spinner Michael] Leask bowled his fours over well on the trot, too."

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Windies skipper Nicholas Pooran was disappointed. "Tough loss for us. Disappointing for sure. We've got to do the hard work now and win both games. We have to take accountability and responsibility. We've got to reflect and get better. 160 was a par score. The middle-order batting was disappointing. I guess when you perform bad, as players, you want the next game to come as quickly as possible. I don't think we were complacent. We got off to a good start, but it was disappointing after the Powerplay," said Pooran, adding that the ball "wasn't spinning too much."

A 20-minute rain stoppage also aided Scotland's cause as the conditions become slower at the Bellerive Oval. Watt, who opened the bowling, took 3-12 while Leask also picked a tidy 2-15 off his four.

Slow pitch conditions

Chasing 161 in slow conditions proved too tough for WI, who missed big-hitter Shimron Hetmyer. Opener Kyle Mayers gave WI a perfect start - 20 off 13 balls, but a superb running catch by Scotland's batting star Munsey at deep midwicket saw him depart. The other WI opener Brandon King (17 off 15) also perished inside the Powerplay. Pooran then fell to Leask's guile and WI were 69-5. All-rounder Jason Holder provided some late sparks (38 off 33, 4x4, 1x6), but it proved to be insufficient.

Brief scores
Scotland 160-5 in 20 overs (G Munsey 66; A Joseph 2-28, J Holder 2-14) beat West Indies 118 all out in 18.3 overs (J Holder 38; M Watt 3-12, M Leask 2-14) by 42 runs

Cricket West Indies apologises to fans

In a rare acceptance that their team had let its fans down, Cricket West Indies (CWI) apologised for the side's shock 42-run defeat to Scotland on Monday. "Disappointing day. Apologies to all West Indies fans worldwide," CWI tweeted.

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