Eager to face England at T20 World Cup: Scotland paceman Brad Wheal (C)
Aamir QURESHI
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Brad Wheal believes Scotland will be buoyed by a famous one-day international win over England six years ago when they face their neighbours in the teams’ T20 World Cup opener in Barbados.
The Scots will be bidding for another upset win over T20 world champions England on June 4 in what will be the teams’ first meeting in the format.
England will be the overwhelming favourites to start their title defence with a win, but that was also the case when the teams met in a 50-overs per side clash in Edinburgh in 2018, only for Scotland to prevail by six runs in a high-scoring clash.
Wheal missed the match because of a stress fracture in his back but, with several players from both sides set to be involved again at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, the 27-year-old Scotland paceman is confident his side will avoid being overawed by the occasion.
“If anything that just proves to the guys that played in that game, and the ones that didn’t, that going into this fixture, we’re no laughing matter,” the 27-year-old Hampshire seamer told Britain’s PA news agency.
“We can definitely go in there and hopefully turn over one of the best T20 teams in the world.
“The expectation is definitely there, it’s obviously not going to be a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination.
“But it definitely brings some confidence in knowing that Scotland have beaten England before, obviously not in a T20. But beating them at a World Cup would be pretty special.”
South Africa-born Wheal is also encouraged by the way Scotland have beaten Test nations Bangladesh and the West Indies at the last two T20 World Cups.
“Everyone knows what we can do, the team is good enough and we’ve shown that in the past, beating some big teams,” said Wheal.
“Guys will definitely draw from those memories but there’s an expectation now that we are meant to compete with these guys and they won’t be walkover games by any stretch of the imagination — they’re definitely fixtures that we expect to be competing and potentially winning.”
