England v Scotland T20 World Cup Tips: Scotland can shock the champs

• Scotland must bat first

• Pitch could assist outsiders

• Wood top bowler bet

• Read about Ed's Betfair Exchange strategy below

England v Scotland
Tuesday 4 June, 15:30
TV: Live on Sky Sports

England v Scotland T20 World Cup team news

England could unleash Mark Wood and Jofra Archer on the Scots as a point of difference. It makes sense that their opponents would have rarely seen such pace or bounce before. But on a potentially slow surface they will be adding pace on the ball. Reece Topley would be unfortunate to miss out.

Chris Jordan may keep Sam Curran out of the team but regardless of who they go with England can call on seven different bowling options.

Probable XI: Buttler, Salt, Jacks, Bairstow, Brook, Moeen, Livingstone, Jordan, Rashid, Archer, Wood

Scotland suffered a disappointing defeat by Afghnaistan in a warm-up match as their batting flopped in what looked a gettable target. Mark Watt is a key player for them, primarily with the ball. He has experience of franchise set ups with Desert Vipers and Sharjah Warriors.

With the bat all eyes are on opener George Munsey who has been reliable and his partner, the hard-hitting Brandon McMullen. He strikes at 142.

Possible XI: Munsey, McMullen, Berrington, Cross, Leask, Greaves, Watt, Jarvis, Sharif, Currie, Wheal

England v Scotland T20 World Cup pitch report

Scotland would have been encouraged by the Oman-Namibia contest which went to a Super Over at Bridgetown. Nambia had a real struggle to get to 109. It reinforced the importance of the toss with 75% of matches won by the side batting first in the last two years. Laying Engand runs for 200 or more batting first at odds-on is a possibility if we get another tricky surface.

England v Scotland T20 World Cup match prediction

It would be no surprise if champs England won in the way that 1.081/12 shots should. They bat first, they bat big and then the Scots are blown away by pace. But.

The toss bias cannot be ignored here. We often say that a leveller is needed for there to be an upset and the potential for a shock increases when there is such a clear advantage to batting first. There's a bit of rain around, too, which is hardly a disaster for the Scots. Anything that can disrupt the norms is their pal.

Scotland are durable and make efficient decisions in the field. They should be capable of, at times, putting a squeeze on an England side which comes in cold from a disrupted series against Pakistan in completely different conditions. Scotland are worth the risk bating first at 12.011/1.

England are no strangers to upsets. They have lost to Netherlands (twice) and Ireland (in 2022) in T20 World Cups so they absolutely have a stinker in their locker.

England v Scotland T20 World Cup Exchange strategy

And if you can't quite stomach the Scots bet for a full 40 overs then a trade is a possibility. The caveat of batting first remains, though.

It's unlikely we won't be able to take big chunks out of the England price without more than 165 on the board and a few cheap England wickets. We're looking to double our stake on the lay button at 5.004/1.

England v Scotland T20 World Cup player bets

George Munsey and Bradley Currie offer strong win-rate options at 13/53.60 and 7/24.50 for top Scots bat and ball respectively. Currie's left-armers could cause an issue with the angle across England's right-handers. Phil Salt is well-known as a win-rate bet at 7/24.50. We also go with Wood for most England wickets because of an excellent strike rate of 13.2. Sportsbook make him 16/54.20.

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