England captain Harry Brook insisted his side would settle for a gradual entry into the tournament rather than peaking too early, even as the two-time champions flirted with danger again at the T20 World Cup.
England haven’t quite hit top gear yet. They survived the horror against Nepal, went down to the West Indies on Saturday and were pushed hard by Scotland, who looked set for 180-plus before being bowled out for 152.
The pursuit was anything but smooth. England were reeling at 86 for 4, with Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Brook himself dismissed for single-digit scores. It took Tom Banton a composed, unbeaten 63 lead them home by five wickets with 10 extra balls.
However, Brook suggested that lack of fluency could play in England’s favour.
“We haven’t made it as easy as we’d like in this competition so far, but hopefully we’ll have a bit of an easier time starting with Italy on Monday or whenever it is when we play. We haven’t played our best cricket yet but we’re in a strong position,” Brook said after the match.
“Things haven’t seemed to click yet but in competitions like this you don’t want to start too early and hopefully that can be the start against Italy when we play them in a few days.”
Banton’s innings stood out not only for their timing, but also for the maturity behind them. A traditionally top-order player in domestic cricket, he was asked to slot in at No.4 to accommodate the established opening pair of Salt and Buttler.
ENG vs SCO T20 WORLD CUP 2026: MAIN | SCORECARD
Brook made it clear that breaking up that partnership was never on the table.
“He’s amazing against spin. His stats are some of the best in the world and you can’t really break Joss and Salty. I know they haven’t started as well as they would have liked but their partnership at the top is phenomenal. We wanted to get Bantz in there and number four was the only option,” said Brook.
“He slipped into that four beautifully and played the situation and the conditions perfectly so he deserves all the success.
Known for his bold turns and hockey-style slaps, Banton was forced to rein in his attacking range as Scotland packed offside to deny him his preferred areas. Instead, he recalibrated, finding various pockets on the ground and expertly transitioning in pursuit.
He wasn’t surprised when Brook led him at under-19 level.
“He’s obviously matured as a player, as we saw tonight. The way he chased it all down there, really on his own, with some cameos with (Jacob) Bethel and Sam (Curran). But yeah, he played it beautifully.
“Obviously everybody in the world knows he’s a very good reverse sweeper, so he’s had to adjust his game a little bit to hit different areas to stop them because they’re trying to prevent him from hitting a reverse sweeper. But he’s a strong player. He’s got long levers. He can hit the ball from any ground and he showed that tonight.”
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– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
February 14, 2026