George Munsey: Scotland must show belief in T20 World Cup opener against Bangladesh

Scotland batter George Munsey believes the squad is in a good place heading into the T20 World Cup which gets underway today - and he wants the players to “embrace” the challenges that will come their way in the next few days as they aim to qualify for the ‘Super 12’ phase.

George Munsey says Scotland must show belief in their T20 World Cup opener against Bangladesh

Shane Burger’s men have been waiting a long time for this moment to come around and they go into their First Round Group B match with Bangladesh at the Al Amerat in Muscat, Oman, this afternoon with a spring in their step.

That is due to some good recent results, including warm-up wins over the Netherlands and Namibia on Tuesday and Thursday, but with Bangladesh ranked sixth in the world in T20 cricket and Scotland 14th this will be a testing opener for sure.

However, with players like Munsey, Richie Berrington, Mark Watt and Brad Wheal in form and a lot of experience in the squad, it is certainly not a game Scotland should fear.

“We are in a good place just now, we have been together now for quite a long period of time since the T20 series with Zimbabwe in Edinburgh last month and we have been building nicely into this tournament,” left hander Munsey, 28, said.

“Throughout the group we have experience whether that be with the bat, ball or in the field and I think that has given us real clarity in what we are trying to achieve in this format of the game.

“Games of T20 cricket can change in the blink of an eye, but if we stick to our plans and stay together as a group then we know we have the capabilities of making it through to the second phase of the competition.

“Rather than think about it as a pressure to progress from the first round, we need to embrace the challenge and really take games to teams because we know what we can do on our day - we have to have belief.”

Scotland and Bangladesh are in Group B of the first round along with Papua New Guinea and Oman in the event hosted in the latter and the UAE.

PNG and Oman are ranked 15th and 18th respectively in the world currently in this format and with two teams progressing from the group to the Super 12s - where the very best teams lie in wait including England and holders the West Indies - Scotland have a good chance.

With a strike rate of 153.46 from his 43 T20 internationals so far, many Scottish fans are waiting for Munsey fireworks at the top of the batting order.

“I can’t wait to test myself against some of the best bowlers,” Munsey states.

“You are always trying to evolve as a player and I keep an eye on what is going on around the world in this format and what shots batters are playing, but at the end of the day batting is batting and you have to stick to what you know, back your technique and score runs for the team, that’s what I am aiming to do.”

Group A in the first round is made up of Ireland, the Netherlands, Namibia and Sri Lanka.

Scotland’s First Round Group B matches:

v Bangladesh (today, 3pm UK time, live on Sky Sports)

v Papua New Guinea (Tuesday, 11am UK time, live on Sky Sports)

v Oman (Thursday, 3pm UK time, live on Sky Sports)

Scotland squad: Kyle Coetzer (captain), Richie Berrington, Dylan Budge, Matthew Cross, Josh Davey, Ali Evans, Chris Greaves, Michael Leask, Calum MacLeod, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Hamza Tahir, Craig Wallace, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal.

Travelling Reserves: Michael Jones, Chris Sole.

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