BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) — Defending champion England and Scotland shared the competition points after their Twenty20 World Cup cricket opener ended in a no result because of rain.
England went into Tuesday’s game as a heavy favorite at Bridgetown Barbados but Scottish chances increased significantly when rain set in.
Scotland openers George Munsey and Michael Jones made a spirited 90-0 in a revised 10-over innings before England’s target was recalculated up to 109 in 10 overs under rules devised for rain-shortened matches.
But rain prevented any further play, making it the first washout of the June 1-29 tournament.
Netherlands had a six-wicket win over Nepal in Tuesday’s other game at Grand Prairie, Texas.
The first ever T20 international between England and Scotland had already twice been interrupted before rain intensified.
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“There’s no easy games at all, but we were confident,” England captain Jos Buttler said. “The disappointment is for everyone — both sides and all the crowd here.”
Scotland captain Richie Berrington said it was frustrating not to get a chance to challenge England’s batters on a tricky wicket.
“It would have been interesting to see how the weather affects the pitch,” he said. “I think if we’d bowled well, we certainly had an opportunity there.”
Rain had kept the players off the field first for nearly an hour after Scotland won the toss and elected to bat. Jones (45 not out) and Munsey (41 not out) negotiated the pace threat of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer in the power play before rain returned in the 7th over with Scotland at 51-0.
Munsey got a lucky escape on 16 before the second rain interruption when Buttler took a well judged running catch at third man only to see Mark Wood had been no-balled for over-stepping the crease.
On resumption, Munsey and Jones hit another 39 runs off the remaining 22 balls as spinner Adil Rashid gave away 26 off the two overs.
Barbados-born Archer made his T20 World Cup debut for England after returning from injury and had showed glimpses of his full fitness during a recent 2-0 series victory against Pakistan. He bowled two overs for 12 runs, but both Scottish openers batted with confidence against him under overcast conditions.
Netherlands beat Nepal with eight balls remaining in a tight contest that was also delayed by rain.
The Dutch opted to bowl first and dismissed Nepal for 106 in 19.2 overs, led by captain Rohit Paudel’s 37-ball 35.
Tim Pringle (3-20 in four overs) and Logan van Beek (3-18 in 3.2 overs) did the damage as Nepal lost wickets at regular intervals on a surface suited for fast bowlers.
Dutch opener Max O’Dowd led the successful chase, hitting 54 not out in 48 balls as his team finished on 109-4 in 18.4 overs.
Sompal Kami, Dipendra Singh Airee and Abinash Bohara took a wicket apiece. Nepal’s hopes were briefly raised when Netherlands dropped to 80-4 in the 16th over after Bohara bowled Netherlands captain Scott Edwards (5).
But O’Dowd and Bas de Leede (11 not out) shared an undefeated 29-run partnership for victory.
India and Ireland meet in New York in the first of Wednesday’s three games. Australia takes on Oman at Bridgetown, Barbados and Papua New Guinea is against Uganda in Providence, Guyana.
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