Banana skin avoided

In actual fact, it is very rare to see someone slip up on a banana skin

The biggest surprise was when the team was named.  This fixture had been earmarked as the only real chance to rotate the bowlers, but the same XI was chosen.  This would indicate that, barring injuries this XI is likely to play throughout almost all the tournament.

26 balls into the match Scotland was 12/4 and people were checking on stats while preparing for an afternoon off.  Boult in particular was nearly unplayable, and this was a sign that test form can be migrated to ODIs.

Scotland did show resolve though, and thanks almost entirely to Machan and Berrington got them through to a score higher than they managed in the sides’ only previous World Cup encounter.

The chase was surprisingly shaky, and not helped by a lunch break after nine overs.  If Anderson had been caught when he should have been it would have been 120/6 and become very interesting.

But the plan was clearly to knock the runs off as quickly as possible to pump up the Net Run Rate figure.  In the end losing wickets might affect the over-stated of momentum, but the NRR is the stat that matters in pool play.  Wickets lost is irrelevant unless it gets to 10.

146/7 in 25 overs is more useful than 146/0 off 28 in this context.

Still, you would hope that a batting performance that skitter will not set a pattern.

To those MVP points, and the near impossible task of differentiating those bowling efforts.  The opening bowlers set the scene with their opening spells, Vettori and Anderson returned the better figures.

1. Vettori.  Three wickets and predictably the most economical bowler.
2. Boult.  His opening over set the scene, and he could have had more.
3. Anderson.  3/18 and tellingly the wickets of Machan and Berrington who between them scored 75% of Scotland’s runs.

Williamson	19
Anderson	16
Ronchi	14
Henry	11
Taylor	8
Vettori	8
McCullum B	6
McClenaghan	5
Elliott	5
Boult	5
Milne	2
Southee	2
Mills	2
Guptill	2
Latham	1