T20 World Cup: England-Scotland sporting rivalry spills on to Eden

The news of Zimbabwe stunning Australia by 23 runs in Colombo could not have been music to the ears of their arch rivals England in Kolkata. The T20 World Cup has, thanks to the unpredictability of the format, produced many an upset in the past, but Harry Brook’s men cannot really afford one as they face off against traditional sporting rivals Scotland in the afternoon game on Saturday, 14 February.

A clash on the cricket pitch is not exactly what the historic England-Scotland rivalry is known for. Its roots go back to football’s first official international in 1871, while a sitter in sports quizzes is often about the origin of the Calcutta Cup — awarded to the winners of the Rugby Union clash between the two nations in the Six Nations rugby. It's a strange coincidence that the latest edition of the bruising game is scheduled in Edinburgh later on Saturday.

Their nascent cricket rivalry is not a patch on that, but England are in no position to take their rivals lightly, given their position in Group C. The 2022 World T20 champions — with as many as five members of that squad on duty in this edition including winning captain Jos Buttler — have been vulnerable in both their outings so far. While they barely closed out Nepal by four runs, their embarrassing 30-run defeat against the West Indies on Thursday has pushed them down to third place in the group.

The Caribbeans sit on top with back-to-back wins, while Scotland, Italy and England — all with one win each — are separated only by net run rate. Scotland hold the second spot thanks to their massive win over Italy. The clash on Saturday could give either side a decisive edge in the race for second place to make it to the Super Eight — as both are expected to win their final group games with Scotland facing Nepal and England taking on Italy.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, England opener Phil Salt said they were confident of bringing back the ‘best version’ of themselves tomorrow. ‘’We are quite familiar with a lot of the Scotland players from the county circuit,’’ said Salt as England named an unchanged playing XI from the one which lost to the West Indies.

A little digging shows that while England could be odds-on favourites, Scotland haven’t done badly against them in their international clashes so far. Indeed, they stunned their fancied neighbours by six runs after posting a massive 371/5 in a one-off ODI in Edinburgh in 2018 in their lone win in five meetings, with England winning three and one ending in no result.

In the 2024 T20 World Cup, their group match was washed out after Scotland raced to 90 without loss in 10 overs, a result that had derailed England’s campaign. Openers George Munsey and Michael Jones had put on an unbroken 90-run stand in that abandoned 2024 encounter and will look to finish what they started against the Auld Enemy. The duo had smashed England ace spinner Adil Rashid for 26 runs in two overs and their match-up will once again would be a highlight.

 Scotland's Brad Wheal said they would certainly take heart from after Zimbabwe’s shock win over Travis Head & Co. When pointed out that it would be a happening day for Scotland sport, Wheal said: ''I mean it's a pretty cool day for everyone. England playing Scotland in cricket and in Six Nations, thanks to the Kolkata Cup and we're playing in Kolkata so that's quite a coincidence. But it's awesome, I mean, obviously for everyone we just want to go out there and do our country proud.''

Scotland skipper Richie Berrington had, in an earlier interaction, summed it up : ''It would make quite a nice headline if Scotland has two wins on Saturday.’’