Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer was elated with his team’s 6-run victory over Bangladesh in their first game in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in Muscat on Sunday, October 17, saying no team can't be counted out of the equation in the T20 format.
Coetzer also felt this win over Bangladesh is a great confidence builder for Scotland in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 and said it showed that they can win a game from any position, but admitted they have to play extremely well to do well in the global event.
At one stage, Scotland was 53/6, but Chris Greaves’ 45 and Mark Watt’s 22 took the side to a respectable total of 140/9 against Bangladesh before Brad Wheal’s three-wicket haul turned the game in favor of his team on Sunday in Muscat.
Later, Greaves snared two wickets with Josh Davey and Watt returning each with one scalp to help Scotland beat Bangladesh by 6 runs to kick start their T20 World Cup 2021 on a winning note, and the skipper credited the lower order and his team’s brilliant fielding for the thrilling win on Sunday.
Coetzer said at the post-match presentation, “Credit to the Bangladesh bowlers, they showed high-class skills. They did blow us away a bit. But you can't count any team out in T20s. We had a lot of belief in our batting depth, we do feel we can all hit the ball a long way. Greaves and Watt showed it.”
He continued, “It was tricky, there was plenty of dew. I felt our fielders tackled it well apart from myself, all credit to them. It (lower-order fight back) just shows that we can win a game from any position. We fought back with some great knocks and this is a great confidence builder. We understand that we have to play extremely well to beat sides.”
Despite the win, the skipper said Scotland didn't play to their full potential against Bangladesh but he is proud of his team for the way they come back in the match and won the game.
He further noted, “We certainly didn't play to our full potential tonight against a good Bangladesh side. We'll do what we do after winning games, and maybe de-brief at some point tomorrow. Huge togetherness amongst our crowd.
That's one of the most important things that we need when we want to get across the line under pressure. Everyone backs each other. Really proud of the guys. We continually keep proving to ourselves that we're capable.”
Meanwhile, Greaves, who was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his all-around efforts, was happy to contribute to the team’s win over Bangladesh in their tournament opener.
The all-rounder said: “We were in a tough situation. The thought was to rebuild and see where we can get from there. Unbelievable that I could be that person (to contribute), incredible. With the score on the board, you got something to bowl at. The power-hitting right through our side is incredible. So yeah, once we got that total, with our bowling line-up, we backed it and... great game.”
He concluded, “It was my day. There would be many other days that any one of us could do well. Glad that I contributed. Incredible to be a Scottish cricketer today. So many words I could put to use. Enjoyable. Take one day at a time and hopefully many more wins to come.”
Noteworthy, Scotland will lock horns against Papua New Guinea next while Bangladesh will take on Oman on Tuesday (October 19) in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021.
(With ANI Inputs)
