NEWS
Follow UsScotland rode on a superb fifty from Brandon McMullen in the T20 World Cup 2024 game against Australia in St. Lucia to put up a formidable 180 on the board. Furthermore, they had Australia on the mat during the chase, reducing them to 60/3 in the ninth over.
Spinner Mark Watt picked up a couple of wickets in that game and remains confident that his side can draw inspiration from the good show they put up in that game, where they pushed the Aussies to the last over.
“I think we’re after a little bit of blood this week, and not just win a game but win the series,” Watt said ahead of the first T20 International (T20I) on September 4 (Wednesday).
“We can definitely take inspiration from that game in St Lucia, but we also have a little bit of a point to prove, as we all believe we should have won that game and kicked on further in the World Cup. We can say we got close, but actually, in the back of our heads, we’re disappointed that we didn’t win.
“I think it would be a great ending to the year and our home summer. We did so well in the Caribbean, then won three games in Cricket World Cup League Two, so the boys are in a great space.
“I think it would be right up there, not just winning one game, but winning the series – that would be right up there with the best achievement Scotland have ever had.”
While Watt did not make the XI during his stint at The Hundred with Oval Invincibles, he said the work did not stop there as he consistently made notes of what would work best for him on the field.
“I took a journal for a month and picked up on what the best in the world do, and tried to see if that would work for me. You pick up these little habits and if they don’t work for you, so be it, but if they do, you’ve made yourself better," the left-arm spinner said.
“It was a brilliant month and just a great set-up. The level of players you’re playing against and training with is pretty incredible, so to be involved in that environment for a month, even though I wasn’t playing, you learn a lot just from training and being around the guys."
Adam Zampa, who will be in the Australian camp, was one of the players who kept Watt out of the XI.
“Nathan Sowter and Adam both bowled incredibly throughout the whole tournament, so I knew where I sat and that was absolutely fine. It’s one of those things in sport where you need to get on with it, put a smile on your face and be a team man, there’s no time for moping around at that sort of level," Watt, who has picked up 80 T20I wickets in 67 matches, said.
“I’ve talked about this series enough with him for the last month, telling him what I’m going to do to him, so hopefully I get a chance not just to bowl against him but to bat against him as well!"
This is the first time Scotland and Australia are participating in a bilateral series. The three matches will be played in Edinburgh between September 4 and 7.
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