England vs Scotland Prediction: The game’s top batsman could be a Scot

England have not looked great so far in the T20 World Cup and they face Scotland knowing that defeat could see them on their way out at such an early stage. Jamie Pacheco previews England’s third match of the T20 World Cup against Scotland, starting at 09:30 on Saturday, February 14, and live on Sky Sports Main Event.   

Jamie is fresh from tipping the Windies to win at 15/8 on Wednesday and is back with tips at 7/2 and 14/5 ahead of this one...

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England vs Scotland Preview & Team News:

England 

England are in trouble.  

One more slip-up could potentially cost them a place in the next round, which would be a new low for a team that has had its fair share of shockers at World Cups in both formats.  

Especially when you consider that, with all due respect, Nepal, Italy and Scotland are the other teams in their groups, alongside the Windies.  

Their margin of defeat by 30 runs has also damaged their net run  rate, which was already only just about positive after their last-ball win over Nepal.    

So where did it all go wrong for them against the Windies? Jofra Archer's 48 runs conceded didn't help, neither did Sam Curran's 36 off 3. In fact, their death bowling probably cost them the game more than anything else.  

Harry Brook gave us the whole 'we should have gone harder at it' speech, as per usual, but maybe they should think about partnerships, which bowlers to target and which areas to score rather than just saying they needed to be more aggressive.  

Still, we're not complaining. We had the Windies to win at 15/8.   

Maybe they should think about playing Josh Tongue, who can't be any worse at death bowling than what they showed on Wednesday.  

Scotland 

After losing to the Windies, Scotland recovered well to beat an Italy side that has something about it.  

George Munsey and skipper Richard Berrington are good batsmen who can cause damage. Munsey's 84 off 54 set up the game for them but, even then, he wasn't the player of the Match.   

Michael Leask smashed 22 off 5 and then took 4/17. He was.  

That could well be the best all-round performance of the WC right there; I can't see how those numbers can be bettered. 

Bowler Brad Wheal is another to look out for.

Pitch and conditions 

We're at Ahmedabad for this one.  

This is one of the best wickets in the world for batting, as we know from the IPL, where the Gujarat Titans play.  

It was where South Africa and Afghanistan tied on 187, then tied again in the Super Over in that ridiculous match on Wednesday. 

It was also where SA posted 213 against Canada. England should really get to 200 batting first here, but not if they keep making mistakes.   

Match Winner odds. 

England are 1/20 here, remembering they were 1/100 against Nepal and we all know what happened there. Scotland are 8/1. 

Let's just say that I'd rather have a quid on Scotland at those odds than 20 on England to win a quid.  

I'd be surprised if the Scots don't trade at half that price in-play, but I'll leave this one alone.  

*You can bet on this match and check out all the live England vs Scotland Cricket Odds over on betfred.com

Team of Top Batter  

Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran have so far top-scored for England in this tournament.  

The theory probably goes that a Jos Buttler, a Phil Salt, or a Brook will sooner or later take revenge on a bowling unit and smash 80 off 40 or something similar.  

They might. But here's an alternative theory. That a Munsey or a Berrington play a fine knock of 50 or 60 off 70-odd without going hell for leather, and that trumps an England player smashing 40 off 20. Besides, the way England are bowling, it's only really Adil Rashid they have to fear.  

I certainly prefer a bet like this at 7/2 to the more outrageous prospect of Scotland winning the match.   

England Top Bowler 

Speaking of Rashid, the way things are going, he's just about the only one who's guaranteed to bowl four overs.  

He had a poor day against Nepal but was brilliant against the Windies with 2/16.  

His canny spin bowling is just the sort that can trouble the Scottish batsmen who may prefer pace on the ball. As highlighted before, he's England's top wicket-taker in this format by some distance, for good reason. 14/5 is pretty fair.  

Jamie Pacheco Cricket P/L 2025: 

• Points Staked: 146 
• Points Returned: 151.7  
• Final P/L: +5.7pts  

Jamie Pacheco Cricket P/L 2026:   

• Points Staked: 19.75 
• Points Returned: 23.20 
• Current P/L: +5.61 

Jamie Pacheco predominantly covers Cricket and European Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out his Cricket Betting Tips, along with those from the rest of the team, at our Cricket hub page...  

Top Price

Available 09:00 04/02 – 05:30 07/02. Top Price/Joint Top Price all teams to win T20 WC with selected bookmakers using Oddschecker for comparison. Max Stakes Vary. Prices may fluctuate. T&Cs Apply.

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