ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026 | Match 23: England vs Scotland | Preview and Predictions
England will take on neighbours Scotland in Match 23 of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 14, 2026.
Here, we present our preview and predictions for the game.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 | Match 23: ENG vs SCO | 15:00 IST, February 14, 2026
After narrowly escaping defeat against Nepal in their opening fixture, England lost their second game against the West Indies. The champions from 2022 haven’t looked convincing in either game with either bat or ball. Another weakness in their camp is the lack of quality spinners in their line-up, with the exception of Adil Rashid.
Against the West Indies, England were in the driving seat and had the opposition reeling at 77/4. However, they failed to capitalise and let the Windies come back into the game and reach a huge total of 196/6, courtesy of Sherfane Rutherford’s top-scoring knock of 76 not out off 42 balls. Jason Holder also played a quickfire cameo (33 off 17) to help his side post the big total.
In response, the England batters started well but fell to the West Indian spin trio at regular intervals. Sam Curran ultimately ran out of partners and was left with too many runs to chase in the last three overs. Even the tail-enders threw away their wickets to hand the West Indies a very crucial win. Roston Chase (2/29) and Gudakesh Motie (3/33) broke the back of the English batting unit and turned the game in their side’s favour.
As for their opponents, Scotland lost their opening fixture to the West Indies but earned their first win of the campaign against newcomers Italy.
Batting first against Italy, Scotland amassed a big total of 207/4, with George Munsey (84 off 54), Brandon McMullen (41* in 18 balls), and Michael Jones (37 off 30) being the key contributors for the Scots, who performed superbly with the ball as well and won the game by 73 runs, completely outplaying Italy in all departments.
Although brothers Benjamin Manenti (52 off 31) and Harry Manenti (37 off 25) offered some resistance during the second innings, Scotland were able to take regular wickets to stop Italy’s momentum. Michael Leask (4/17) bowled superbly to register his best figures in a T20I. This match not only gave Scotland a win, but also a healthy net run rate, which could come into play later on.
For all the positives Scotland could take from their win over Italy, England remain a far superior team and will be a much bigger problem for the Scots to solve. If the English top order gets going, stopping them will be hard, while with the ball Adil Rashid will be a tricky customer for the Scottish batters.
The pitch at Eden Gardens has always supported both batters and bowlers. The pitch for this game will likely be great for batting up front and may get a bit slower as the match goes on. Scotland have already played on this Kolkata strip and scored 200+ batting first, something they’ll keep in mind in case they win the toss.
Taking everything into consideration, England should be able to secure the two points here in order to strengthen their chances of Super Eight qualification. This is a comfortable encounter for England to win, as Scotland aren’t really at the same level and may struggle to even match the calibre and will of the Nepal side that almost pulled off a shock victory against the Englishmen.
Fantasy XI: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), George Munsey, Harry Brooks (c), Brandon McMullen, Sam Curran, Michael Leask, Will Jacks, Adil Rashid, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Winners Prediction: England