Hobart, Oct 17, 2022, IANS

Hobart, Oct 17 (IANS) Opener George Munsey carried his bat throughout the innings to slam an unbeaten 66 to help Scotland post an excellent 160/5 in their Group B match of the T20 World Cup against the West Indies at the Bellerive Oval on Monday.

For the West Indies, veteran all-rounder Jason Holder was the pick of the bowlers with 2/14, while young fast bowler Alzarri Joseph picked up 2/28 while Odean Smith finished with figures of 1/31.

Pushed into batting first, Scotland were off to a breezy start, making 54 runs for no loss inside the first six overs, including nine boundaries hit by Munsey and Michael Jones, before rain interrupted their fine opening partnership.

Post resumption after a 47-minute break, Scotland scored only 16 runs in their next four overs, but lost Jones and Matthew Cross to Jason Holder, who hit the deck hard with his hard lengths to get West Indies back in the match.

But Munsey kept going through to get his first T20 World Cup fifty, even if he was not at his fluent best as he was at the start of the innings, and held one end up to get Scotland a total they would be confident of defending.

He failed to find a single boundary between overs five to 19 before hitting three fours in the last over off Smith for Scotland to reach the 160-mark. Scotland skipper Richie Berrington chipped in with 16 while Calum MacLeod made 14-ball 23 and Chris Greaves remained unbeaten on 16.

Brief Scores: Scotland 160/5 in 20 overs (George Munsey 66 not out, Calum MacLeod 23; Jason Holder 2/14, Alzarri Joseph 2/28) against West Indies.