Scotland's revenge sets up Richie Berrington's side for crunch Ireland clash

Like Namibia a day earlier, who inflicted another purported upset by hammering Sri Lanka, Scotland made a mockery of the lack of regular opportunities afforded to these associate nations

"Look, that was a long time ago," said Richie Berrington, speaking at Scotland's post-match press conference after beating West Indies.

He was referring to an agonising, controversial defeat four years ago against the same opposition, a result that cost Berrington and his teammates a berth at the 2019 World Cup, decided ultimately by a poor lbw decision. Berrington wasn't the captain then, but he was the victim of Ashley Nurse's successful appeal.

This, though, wasn't about revenge, insisted the 35-year-old, who replaced Kyle Coetzer as his country's T20I skipper after his predecessor's retirement in July.

"I think just to get off to a winning start, especially against a Test playing nation, I'm obviously extremely proud of the guys."

Just as Ireland – their opponents on Wednesday – were well beaten by Zimbabwe, Scotland were equally clinical in their dispatching of West Indies, the 2016 champions and a region that has so bought into T20 cricket.

But Nicholas Pooran's side were out-batted, out-bowled and out-fielded. So much so that it took a face-saving effort from Jason Holder with his team's tail just to ensure they reached three figures.

^{Ireland were well beaten by Zimbabwe on Monday (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)}

Like Namibia a day earlier, who inflicted another purported giant-killing by hammering Sri Lanka, Scotland made a mockery of the lack of regular opportunities afforded to these nations. Purported, because the idea that these results are significant upsets is outdated, even as the playing field becomes less level by the year.

Rather, they are well organised teams with excellent coaches, who – in nations often without the same depth of infrastructure that exists in some of cricket's larger hotspots – deal with circumstances often unique to the associate landscape.

"Time to split the pie a bit more?" asked Coetzer on Twitter immediately after Scotland's win, each major victory at a tournament like this an important chance to make that point.

THE BIG MATCH

Who: Scotland v Ireland

Where: Blundstone Arena

When: Wednesday, October 19 (3pm local time, 5am BST)

Prediction: Scotland

It is no coincidence that Namibia and Scotland – both of whom have beaten former World T20 winners in the last 48 hours – qualified for the Super 12s last year. That happened because they are good sides with good cricketers, but they are better for it because it created more opportunities to play games against world-class opposition. Scotland's win over West Indies was just their third T20I of the calendar year and the first not to be squeezed into a three-day period in late July.

Associate cricket is a tight-knit, supportive community despite what's often at stake when the teams meet, and one of the first comments in response to Coetzer's tweet was a congratulatory, game-recognises-game nod from Gerhard Erasmus, Namibia's skipper. A day earlier, he had acknowledged the scale of beating Sri Lanka but in the same breath was preaching "the bigger picture" – qualifying for the next stage again, aware of what that means.

When Toby Bailey, Cricket Scotland's national performance coach, spoke to The Cricketer in 2019, he explained: "We saw what happened last time when we lost to West Indies on Duckworth-Lewis – it messes up your system, it messes up your programme."

^{Mark Watt starred for Scotland in their win over West Indies (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)}

Berrington was involved then, as he is now. He has been present for many of Scottish cricket's best days: the first win at a World Cup when they beat Hong Kong in 2016, the victory over Bangladesh in last year's tournament, the famous defeat of England at The Grange in 2018.

This one slots into the same conversation: "It's right up there. I think to get a win like that at the World Cup, it's obviously pretty special to be representing your country at the World Cup. It's kind of as big as it gets.

"But for us, the belief has always been there that we can put on that performance. So yes, certainly a big win for us but one we'll enjoy. We know there's still plenty more to play for."

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