Al Amerat (Oman): Scotland stunned Bangladesh by six runs in their Group B opener of the T20 World Cup first round here on Sunday.
Chris Greaves led a fine lower-order fightback with a 28-ball 45 as Scotland recovered from a hopeless situation to post 140/9.
Invited to bat first, Scotland were reeling at 53 for six in the 12th over before Greaves added 51 runs with Mark Watt (22 off 17 balls) to prop up Scotland.
In reply, Bangladesh were stopped at 134 for seven in their allotted quota of 20 overs as the tournament witnessed an upset on the very first day of the mega event.
Playing a pivotal role in Scotland's win was Greaves, who followed up his blazing knock with the two important wickets of star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (20) and the seasoned Mushfiqur Rahim (38).
Earlier, Ludhiana-born Jatinder Singh smashed an unbeaten 73 as co-hosts Oman thrashed Papua New Guinea (PNG) by 10 wickets in the opening Group B first round match.
Courtesy Jatinder's 42-ball-knock and his opening partner Aqib Ilyas's 50 not out off 43 balls, Oman chased down the modest 130-run target in only 13.2 overs.
None of the PNG bowlers could create any trouble for Jatinder and Aqib as they went about their business in confident fashion from the onset.
While Jatinder had seven fours and four sixes in his knock, Aqib's innings was laced with five boundaries and one hit over the fence.
Very strong against slow bowlers, Jatinder would rock back and hit them er mid-wicket for sixes as he carried his form from the qualifying tournament in 2019 where he was the highest run-getter for his adopted country.
Earlier, skipper Asad Vala struck a fine half-century before rival captain Zeeshan Maqsood returned with figures of 4/20 with his slow left-arm orthodox which restricted PNG to 129/9.
"They were batting very well when I got the wickets. because we got the wickets, they couldn't put on a big total. I just try to keep it tight and not give away loose balls. We knew the wicket was playing very well, we needed to make sure we didn't give away loose balls and easy boundaries," Maqsood, who was adjudged 'Player of the Match' said at the post-game presentation ceremony.
Sent into bat, PNG lost both their openers for no score before Vala smashed 56 off 43 balls with the help of four boundaries and three sixes while Charles Amini made 37 off 26 balls to stitch 81 runs for the third wicket.
But thereafter, PNG witnessed another batting collapse as they lost their next six wickets for just 37 runs.
Maqsood was certainly pick of the bowlers for Oman but medium-pacers Bilal Khan (2/16) and Kallemullah (2/19) also chipped in with a couple of wickets each.
Oman will play Bangladesh in their next Group B match on Tuesday, while PNG will take on Scotland the same day.
Brief scores: PNG 129/9 in 20 overs (Assad Vala 56, Charles Amini 37, Zeeshan Maqsood 4/20) lost to Oman 131/0 in 13.4 overs (Jatinder Singh 73 not out, Aqib Ilyas 50 not out).
Scotland 140/9 in 20 overs (Chris Greaves 45, Munsey 29, Mahedi Hasan 3/19, Shakib 2/17, Mustafizur 2/32) bt Bangladesh 134/7 in 20 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 38, Mahmudullah 23, Shakib 20, Bradley Wheal 3/24, Greaves 2/19).
