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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Graeme Macpherson

Mark Watt happy for Scotland to finish second in T20 World Cup group for crack at England

MARK WATT says he’d be happy for Scotland to finish second in their T20 World Cup group if it means earning a crack at England next week.

Watt was one of the stars of the show yesterday as the Saltires opened their campaign with a famous 42-run win over the West Indies.

The spinner took three wickets for just 12 runs as Scotland capitalised on George Munsey’s 66 not out in the first innings to set up a famous victory.

Shane Burger’s side take on Ireland in Hobart tomorrow knowing another win would give them a great chance of making the Super 12 phase.

Finishing second in the group would mean a clash with England at Melbourne’s famous MCG stadium on October 26 – as well as matches with superpowers Australia and New Zealand.

Asked if he fancied that scenario, the left-armer said: “Oh. I'd. Love. That.

“I didn't know that was the case. So, yeah, I'll take second now.

“We've got unfinished business at this tournament. We know last year we didn't play our best game at all.

“We've still not done that. Even though we've just beaten the West Indies, we haven't played our best cricket yet, and we've got a point to prove.”

First, though, is another “derby” against Ireland, a match that Watt is looking forward to.

He added: “I think we know the Irish guys pretty well.

“We've played quite a few times against them, even though it was a fair few years back.

“We're just going to try and stick to our strengths, obviously try and look at their strengths, as well, but we're going to try and stick to what we do best, I'm sure we'll come out on top if we do that.”

Watt was remaining coy about what was written on the bit of paper he pulled out while bowling against the West Indies.

But he revealed that a lot of analysis and preparation goes into every outing.

He added: “We've got a great analyst here in George McNiel so he'll kind of provide all the footage.

“He'll provide kind of what the strengths and weaknesses are of each batter, and then I'll take that upon myself to go and look at all the videos and try and think about where I want to bowl, what plans I want to go with, what fields I want to set.

“It's quite a tedious process, but something that I feel like I have to do so I know what each batter does. It makes it all worth it.”

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