Kolkata, Feb 14 (NationPress) Scotland's captain Richie Berrington acknowledged that his team fell short by 20-30 runs following their five-wicket loss to England in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup at Eden Gardens on Saturday. England's Tom Banton scored an unbeaten 63 and Jacob Bethell contributed 32, helping England secure the win with 10 balls to spare.

Berrington noted that while the pitch at Eden Gardens was favorable for batting, Scotland's inability to form lasting partnerships and some execution errors during the middle overs ultimately impacted the game's outcome.

“I believed it was an excellent wicket for batting. However, we couldn't establish enough partnerships during our innings. Both myself and Brucy were in form, but one of us needed to play a longer innings. We were 20-30 runs short today,” Berrington reflected post-match.

England chose to bowl first on a promising pitch, with Jofra Archer making an immediate impact by claiming two early wickets in the powerplay—George Munsey (4) and Brandon McMullen (0).

Michael Jones and Richie Berrington stabilized the innings during the Power-play. Jones seemed assured until he was dismissed by Sam Curran in the sixth over, scoring 33 runs. Berrington and Tom Bruce formed a solid partnership, adding 71 runs in just 41 balls for the fourth wicket. Bruce fell against the run of play for 24 runs off 18 balls, while Berrington was out for 49 runs off 32 balls, just shy of a half-century.

Despite a late-order contribution from Oliver Davidson, Scotland managed to score only 150 runs. Their innings collapsed as they lost wickets consistently, eventually getting bowled out for 152 runs in 19.4 overs. Adil Rashid finished with impressive figures of 3 wickets for 36 runs, while Jofra added two for 24.

“We anticipated that spin would be crucial during the middle overs. England possesses some world-class spinners. Our execution was not up to par today. We still believe our batters can perform better in those situations. Regrettably, we couldn't synchronize our efforts today. We're looking forward to Mumbai, where conditions will differ. A strong middle partnership was vital for us, but it just wasn't enough,” Berrington stated.

England faced a shaky start to their chase, losing both Phil Salt and Jos Buttler in the early overs (2 and 3, respectively). Scotland's bowlers Brad Currie and Richie McMullen were exceptional in the first six overs, keeping England behind the required run rate.

“We had the confidence to execute our best skills and defend our score. We demonstrated that, but it’s disappointing. We know that if we perform at our best, we can pressure any team. Some days just don’t go our way. I thought we recovered well later on, but it was just one of those days that didn’t go well for us,” Berrington concluded.