ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: England vs Scotland - As it happened...

Welcome to our live blog for this crucial Pool A clash between England and Scotland. Follow the live score and latest match updates here.

Finally England won their first match of the World Cup 2015 by crushing minnows Scotland by 119 runs in a Pool A clash. After putting up an imposing total of 303 in front of Scottish team, thanks to the ton by opener Moeen Ali and cameo by skipper Eoin Morgan, England bowlers bowled well to all out the opponent on mere 184 within 43 overs. It would be big relief for the Poms, who were badly beaten by the both the co-hosts of the event -- Australia and New Zealand -- in their first two matches.     

Scotland Innings

Over 42.2 || Score 184/10

With two wickets in two overs, England beat Scotland convincingly by 119 runs to register their first victory of the World Cup 2015. It's a poor batting display by Scotland while chasing a huge total of 303 as the entire team got out within 43 overs at a score of 184.

RM Haq c Ballance b Woakes 15 (40m 24b)

AC Evans c Buttler b Anderson 9 (21m 15b)

Over 41 || Score 183/8

Evans seems too inspired with the way Haq is playing, as he too collected two boundaries in the 41st over by Woakes to collect eight from the over. 

Over 40 || Score 175/8

Majid Haq, who has come to the middle after the fall of Corss' wicket, is in a counter-attacking mode. And interestingly, he picked up Finn to score his first three boundaries. In the 40th over, he played three cracking shots to take the bowler by surprise.     

Over 38 || Score 160/8

The only player to take hat-trick thus far in the on-going World Cup, Finn, picked up his third wicket as he got the better of Cross. The right-hander was in double mind whether to play or leave the ball pitched outside off. But by the time he decided to leave the ball it kissed the outside edge of his bat as Root takes a simple catch at first slip.   

MH Cross c Root b Finn 23 (32b)

Over 35 || Score 156/7

Finn picks up his second wicket. Another perfectly pitched ball by the seamer, which hit the deck and moved away a bit to get the thick edge of Davey's bat. Scotland wickets are falling like a pack of cards at the moment. England are mere three wickets shy of winning the match. In the mean time the minnows have crossed the 150-run mark.  

JH Davey c Buttler b Finn 9 (15)

Over 33 || Score 148/6

Spinners -- Moeen Ali Joe Root -- are bowling in tandem for England as they are heading towards their first win of the WC. Josh Davey and Matthew Cross are in the middle after Scotland lost way too many wickets in the last few overs.     

Over 30 || Score 132/6

Scotland are losing wickets at regular intervals. In the last five overs they have lost three wickets. Last wicket they lost was of Berrington, who played an irrresponsible shot to throw way his wicket. England are right on top of the match. In fact they are looking set to win their first match of the World Cup, after losing the first two to Australia and New Zealand.     

RD Berrington c Morgan b Ali 8 (13b)

Over 28 || Score 127/5

Big wicket. Coetzer Out! Ali picked up his first wicket. Coetzer danced down the ground in search of big shot, but only managed a top edge of his bat as Woakes took an easy catch at long on. Half of the team is back in the hut and Scotland still require 177 runs in from 22 overs.   

KJ Coetzer c Woakes b Ali 71 (84b)

Over 26 || Score 118/4

Root strikes, Mommsen perishes! At a time when the fourth wicket partnership was looking dangerous, part time spinner Root broke it. Mommsen went for a sweep, found a top edge and Broad took a simple catch at point region. Big blow for Scotland.   

PL Mommsen c Broad b Root 26 (42b)

Over 25 || Score 114/3

Mommsen picked up his third boundary by hitting Root towards fine leg. Runs are now coming at a good pace for batting team. 11 off the last two overs. For the fourth wicket Coetzer and Mommsen have added 60 runs.  

Over 23 || Score 103/3

Coetzer is back into his attacking self. The opener hit three boundaries in the last three overs. Mommsen too has started picking up boundaries. Meanwhile, Scotland take their score past hundred.     

Over 20 || Score 74/3

In the 19th over Coetzer picked a single off Ali to complete his fifty. He used 64 balls to reach the mark with the help of eight boundaries. Coetzer and Mommsen are dealing in singles at the moment. In fact, they have to content in that as Ali and Finn are not offering much room for the batsmen to free their arms. Scotland still required 230 runs from 30 overs.   

Over 17 || Score 66/3

Another bowling change. Spinner Moeen Ali has been given the ball. England are creating pressure on both the batsmen by not giving easy runs. Now the required rate has reached above seven. Five runs off the last three overs.   

Over 15 || Score 61/3

Scotland are losing wickets in quick succession. Finn, picked up his first wicket in his opening over as he got the better of Machan. The batsman got the outside edge of his bat as Butller took his second catch of the match. Coetzer is still there on 44, whereas, Preston Mommsen has joined him in the middle. Scotland need a big partnership here. Ten runs have come in the last three overs.     

MW Machan c Buttler b Finn 5 (7b)

Over 11 || Score 51/2

Chris Woakes strikes, Coleman Out! First bowling change worked for England as Woakes picked up the wicket off his first ball of the match. Coleman drove the ball straight to cover fielder, who took a sharp catch. Meanwhile, Scotland have crossed the 50-run mark.    

FRJ Coleman c Morgan b Woakes 7 (16b)

Over 10 || Score 47/1

Even after losing first wicket early in the innings, Scottish batsmen are playing good cricket in the middle. Coetzer is exactly playing the kind of knock they need while chasing such a big total. All the small teams are playing impressive cricket in the World Cup.      

Over 8 || Score 41/1

Kyle Coetzer is playing a blinder here. The opener is hitting boundaries all over the park. He has reached to 35 off 32 balls with the help of seven boundaries. And mind you he is smashing quality bowlers like Broad and Anderson.         

Over 5 || Score 22/1

Poor start by Scotland as while chasing an imposing total of 303 they lost one of their openers inside first five overs. Anderson provided England their first breakthrough in the form of MacLeod, who edge one for the wicketkeeper, in the 3rd over. Kyle Coetzer and Freddie Coleman are in the middle for the minnows.   

CS MacLeod c Buttler b Anderson 4 (6b)

England Innings 

Over 50 || Score 303/8

Quick-fire knock (46 off 42) by skipper Eoin Morgan at the death overs helped England to cross the 300-run mark. If Moeen Ali's hundred was the highlighter of the innings for the batting team, then, Josh Davey was the pick among the bowlers, who scalped four wickets in his ten over quota.       

CR Woakes c Mommsen b Davey 1 (2b)

EJG Morgan c Mommsen b Davey 46 (42b)

JC Buttler c Davey b Wardlaw 24 (14b)

Over 45 || Score 256/5

In the 43rd over, Morgan clobbered Wardlaw for a six and a boundary to up the ante. But then they lost another wicket in the form of Taylor who got stumped off Davey in the 45th over. Jos Buttler has joined Morgan in the middle after the fall of England's fifth wicket. The new man in, started off well as he collected boundary of the first ball he faced. 31 runs have come off the last five overs. 

JWA Taylor st Cross b Davey 17 (26b)

Over 40 || Score 225/4

Bell Out! Poor form continued for Bell as he nicked one straight to the wicketkeeper after adding just one run to his total. Skipper Eoin Morgan and James Taylor have come to the middle as England lose their four wickets with five overs. Now the biggest question is that can Poms cross the 300-run mark? 22 runs have come in the last four overs. 

GS Ballance b Evans 10 (18b)

Over 36 || Score 203/3

In last five balls England have lost two wickets. First, centurion Ali departed as he gave a simple catch to Coleman at deep mid-wicket off Evans. And then, Ballance played the first ball of the Batting Powerplay on to his stumps. England have lost three wickets in quick successions.  

GS Ballance b Evans 10 (18b)

MM Ali c Coleman b Haq 128 (107b)

Over 34 || Score 200/1

Berrington srikes, Bell Out! Finally, first breakthrough for Scotland. Bell tried to hit an expensive shot through covers but failed to kept it down as Coetzer took a sharp catch inside the circle. Meanwhile, England have touched the 200-run mark.

IR Bell c Coetzer b Berrington 54 (85b)

Over 30 || Score 172/0

Moeen Ali slams ton! The left-hander launched the spinner Haq for six over mid-wicket to complete his ton in style. Meanwhile England have crossed the 150-run mark as well in the 29th over. Ali hit nine boundaries and four sixes to reach the landmark. Before his ton, his opening partner Bell too completed his fifty by ticking a single in the 28th over. Now it's time for both the batsmen to accelerate the scoring as England's run-rate is still under six.   

Over 25 || Score 144/0

Ali is heading towards his century. The southpaw collected two more boundaries to reach the 90 figure mark. Most of his runs have come on the on-side as he has played too many pull shots in the innings. Spinner Majid Haq and seamer Iain Wardlaw are bowling in tandem for Scotland. It's high time to break this partnership for the minnows.     

Over 20 || Score 117/0

Hundred up for England in the 17th over. Scotland bowlers are looking ordinary at the moment as Moeen is milking runs. Poms have collected 28 runs in the last five overs. Bell is giving more strike to Moeen, which is right thing to do. Scotland are still looking for their first breakthrough.  

Over 15 || Score 89/0

Moeen completes his fifty! The southpaw took mere 39 balls to complete his half-century. He hit six boundaries and two sixes to reach the landmark. It took him 12 innings to cross the mark. Scotland skipper is running shot of ideas. Bell is playing risk-free knock and is on 23. Ali and Bell bring up the highest opening stand in this World Cup.

Over 10 || Score 58/0

A promising start by England as their openes have added more than 50 runs for the first wicket stand. Moeen is more of an aggressor in this unbeaten partnership as he is hitting boundaries at regular intervals and that too all over the park. There is a very little room for error in this track for the bowlers and Moeen is exploring that nicely.  

Over 7 || Score 42/0

First bowling change. Alasdair Evans has been brought into the attack in place of Josh Davey. Bell welcomed the bowled with a boundary off his first ball by hammering it towards square of the wicket. Ali is dealing in boundaries at the moment as he collected his third boundary off the sixth over by pulling Wardlaw towards mid-wicket. 17 runs off the last two overs.  

Over 5 || Score 25/0

England have got off to a good start. In the fourth over Moeen smashed Davey for two boundaries and a six to collect 14 from it. There is nothing much in the pitch to offer for the seamers and on top of it the ball is coming nicely on to the bat.   

Over 2 || Score 9/0

England open their account off the opening ball of the match as Moeen pushed the ball towards mid-off for a single. Bell too has opened his account with a double off the last ball off the over. In the next over by  Davey came six runs. Ball is not moving doing much, means England have a chance to score big here.   

Josh Davey and Iain Wardlaw are opening the bowling for minnows Scotland, while to face them Moeen Ali and Ian Bell have come up to the middle.

Toss: Scotland have won the toss and are going to bowl first.

England Squad

Ian Bell, Moeen Ali, Gary Ballance, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, James Taylor, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, James Tredwell

Scotland Squad

Kyle Coetzer, Calum MacLeod, Hamish Gardiner, Matt Machan, Preston Mommsen, Richie Berrington, Matthew Cross, Josh Davey, Rob Taylor, Majid Haq, Iain Wardlaw, Freddie Coleman, Alasdair Evans, Michael Leask, Safyaan Sharif

A floundering England will be looking to avoid a potential banana skin when they take on minnows Scotland in a crucial Pool A cricket World Cup match at the Hagley Oval, here on Monday.

The Eoin Morgan-led side has had a terrible couple of outings against co-hosts Australia and New Zealand as they head into their third game of the 50-over showpiece event.

If losing to Australia in the opener by 111 runs was disappointing then being bundled out for 123 and eventually losing by 8 wickets against the Black Caps was embarrassing.

England's 123 was mowed down by the Brendon McCullum-led side in 12.2 overs as a hapless English attack looked on.

Middle-order batsman James Taylor made a valiant 98 not out at the MCG and Joe Root made a hard-working 46 at Wellington but the batting unit has failed to fire in totality.

Even the decent-looking English pace attack on paper has looked vulnerable once the opposition got going. The likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn might not have had enough runs to defend against New Zealand but were guilty of leaking too many runs against the George Bailey-led side in their first game.

With their backs to the wall against a not-so-fancied Scottish side, England will be looking to put their best foot forward.

Scotland, who are hungry for success, have also did not have the best of outings against New Zealand in their first game in Dunedin, but the Preston Mommsen-led side got some encouragement from their three-wicket loss.