Captain Harry Brook hopes England momentum builds after seeing off Scotland

Harry Brook is hopeful England can peak at the right time at the T20 World Cup after admitting they have not yet “clicked” in their opening three matches.

England came to India on the back of one-day international and T20 series wins in Sri Lanka but they were given a major scare in a last-ball thriller against Nepal last weekend before losing to the West Indies on Wednesday.

Already in must-win territory to progress from Group C, England restricted Scotland to 152 all out although they lost openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler cheaply and then lurched to 86 for four.

But Tom Banton’s unbeaten 63 anchored a nervy chase to lift England to a five-wicket victory in Kolkata and leaves them needing to beat Italy on Monday at the same venue to reach the Super Eights stage.

A relieved Brook, England’s white-ball captain, said: “We haven’t quite made it as easy as we would have liked so far. I don’t know (why), things haven’t seemed to have clicked so far.

“We’ve been in this situation before where we have lost a game early and World Cups aren’t always smooth sailing. You’re never going to just go through all the way without losing a game.

“I think there’s a long way to go in this tournament. We’d rather not start amazing and finish amazing than start amazing and finish bad.

“We haven’t quite played our best cricket yet but we’re in a strong position at the minute. You don’t want to start that too early in competitions like this.”

Jofra Archer collected two for 24 to go to 50 T20 wickets after a couple of expensive outings in Mumbai, but Scotland rallied from 18 for two to reach 113 for three in the 13th over.

However, they unravelled after a 71-run stand between captain Richie Berrington, who made 49, and Tom Bruce ended, leaving England with a much smaller chase than they might have envisioned.

The key to them getting home with 10 balls to spare was a 41-ball innings from Banton, who shared stands of 66 with Jacob Bethell and 46 alongside Sam Curran to break the back of the chase.

Banton, who had made single-figure scores in his last three innings, showed the composure a stop-start England career has not always been known for and at number four, two spots lower than he is used to, to deliver his finest knock in an international shirt.

Brook, who captained Banton at the Under-19 World Cup in 2018, said: “It was awesome. I’m good mates with Bants, so it was good to see him have success on the field.

“He said to me he didn’t want to give them a sniff. He’s obviously matured as a player, the way that he chased that total down almost single-handedly, he played it beautifully.”

Scotland, like England, came into this contest with one win and one defeat, and while this setback does not mathematically spell the end of their Super Eights hopes, they are on the brink of elimination.

They must win their final group game against Nepal in Mumbai on Tuesday and hope an unlikely sequence of results elsewhere occur to remain in the tournament.

Berrington said: “The dressing room is hurting a little bit now. We had a lot of belief going into that game. If we played our best cricket, executed our skills, we were right in there with a chance.

“I was really proud of our efforts and the bowlers in particular. When you are defending 150 on a good wicket you need a few things to go your way.

“We have shown now when we perform well we can put anyone under pressure.”