‘We were challenged’

Australia opener Travis Head (right) with Marcus Stoinis during their match against Scotland in Gros Islet, St Lucia, on Saturday. PIC/AFP

Australia did their arch-rivals England a massive favour with a five-wicket win over a gritty Scotland as the Richie Berrington-led side crashed out of the T20 World Cup Super Eight stage race here. With England hammering Namibia earlier in the day in a rain-truncated game, all that Jos Buttler's side needed was Australia's win over Scotland to a get a lifeline.

Tight battle

Australia scored 186-5 while chasing 181 in 19.4 overs after Scotland fought right until the end to keep their hopes alive. After putting on a formidable total on board, Scotland had even reduced an edgy Australia to 60-3 at one stage but their most successful batters in this World Cup - Travis Head (68) and Marcus Stoinis (59) - delivered again.

Mitchell Marsh

"We spoke about sticking to our plans. Scotland are a good team, they have improved a lot and we certainly wanted to respect them," Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh said. "We just wanted to stay consistent and if we fail, we fail our way.

Whenever our team is challenged, it brings the best out of us. Today we were challenged and it was a good experience and a good game of cricket. We start fresh now," he added. With Australia's chase appearing to be falling apart, the in-from Head and Stoinis joined forces to bring them back in the game.

Head, Stoinis shine

Head smacked four sixes and five fours to top score with 68 off a mere 49 balls but Stoinis was more aggressive, cracking nine fours and two sixes to make a quickfire 59 from a mere 29 balls.

Brief scores
Scotland 180-5 in 20 overs (B McMullen 60, R Berrington 42'; G Maxwell 2-44) lost to Australia 186-5 in 19.4 overs (T Head 68, M Stoinis 59; M Watt 2-34) by five wickets

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