WI in search of batting mojo vs Uganda; Scots eye big win vs Oman

Georgetown (Guyana), Jun 8 (PTI) Co-hosts West Indies will look to shake off their batting rustiness and come in their element when they face Uganda in a Group C T20 World Cup clash here.

The pre-tournament favourites and two-time former champions suffered a scare chasing a modest 137 before they scraped to five-wicket win over minnows Papua New Guinea in their opening match.

On a difficult pitch that required patience and application, West Indies batters kept playing recklessly and found themselves half the side down for 97 with just four overs remaining.

It was then left to Roston Chase (42 not out) and Andre Russell (15 not out) to safely take them home and avoid an embarrassment.

Against a team who are coming on the back of morale boosting win over Papua New Guinea, West Indies will have to exercise some caution especially with the bat.

Nicholas Pooran has been their most standout batter in the recent past and the wicketkeeper-batter will have responsibility to stay at the crease till the end.

On conditions that have assisted the bowlers, pacer Alzarri Joseph and left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein who were impressive in the previous match will look to give early breakthroughs.

Uganda have happy memories of bowling out Papua New Guinea for 77 at this venue but their batting will be in the spotlight as they struggled in the chase before securing a tense three-wicket win in the penultimate over.

Teams (from) West Indies: Rovman Powell (c), Alzarri Joseph, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd.

Uganda: Brian Masaba (c), Simon Ssesazi, Roger Mukasa, Cosmas Kyewuta, Dinesh Nakrani, Fred Achelam, Kenneth Waiswa, Alpesh Ramjani, Frank Nsubuga, Henry Ssenyondo, Bilal Hassun, Robinson Obuya, Riazat Ali Shah, Juma Miyaji, Ronak Patel.

Match starts: 6am IST.

Scotland face Oman, aim to consolidate top spot ======================================================= Scotland will start as firm favourites against Oman in a Group B clash at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua, which will be hosting its first match of the tournament on Sunday.

After their washout against England in their opener that gave both the teams one point each, the Scotland secured a five-wicket win against Namibia in what turned out to be a tense 156-run chase.

The result mean that Scotland now have the opportunity to go up to five points which might complicate the Super Eight qualifying scenarios for tournament heavyweights England and Australia who lock horns later on Saturday.

Only top two teams make the Super Eight. Australia and Namibia have two points each sitting behind Scotland, while England are second from the bottom with one point from one match.

While skipper Richie Berrington has been in form leading their chase with an unbeaten fifty, he would hope that their top-three George Munsey, Michael Jones and Brandon McMullen start to fire.

Oman have lost both their matches putting up ordinary shows with the bat and it would be too much of an ask for them to turn things around.

Teams (from) Oman: Aqib Ilyas (c), Zeeshan Maqsood, Kashyap Prajapati, Pratik Athavale, Ayaan Khan, Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Naseem Khushi, Mehran Khan, Bilal Khan, Rafiullah, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt, Shakeel Ahmad, Khalid Kail.

Scotland: Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Brad Currie, Chris Greaves, Oli Hairs, Jack Jarvis, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Charlie Tear, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal Match starts: 10.30pm IST. PTI TAP KHS