England recorded a much-needed win against minnows Scotland in their third World Cup match to win a crucial two points in Pool A and keep their chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals alive.
Thanks to opener Moeen Ali's blistering knock of 128 runs, England, who had lost their previous two World Cup opening matches, were able to set a 304 run target for Scotland to win in their allotted 50 overs, which helped them set up a 119-run win over the minnows.
Put in to bat first, England got off to a solid start with openers Ali and Ian Bell (54) putting up a first wicket partnership of 172 runs, before the latter fell prey to Richie Berrington's express delivery.
Rest of the England batsmen failed to put up any substantial number of runs with skipper Eoin Morgan being the highest scorer following Ali and Bell's knocks in the match. Morgan added 46 runs to the scoreline before he fell prey to paceman Josh Davey, who claimed four wickets overall in the match.
Scotland got of to a shaky start when they went in to bat. Opener Kyle Coetzer hit the most number of runs for Scotland, knocking a solid 71 off 84 balls, including 11 fours.
However, Scotland were reeling at 54-3 by the end of the 12th over, having lost opener Calum MacLeod (4), Freddie Coleman (7) and Matt Machan (5).
Scotland skipper Preston Mommsen relieved the team's stumbling batting line a little with his 26-run knock but the rest of the batsmen fell cheaply as they were all rounded off by the England bowlers for 184 runs with 46 balls to spare.
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Paceman Stuart Finn was the pick of the England bowlers, as he delivered impressive match-figures of 3-26 in nine overs.
All-rounder Ali was named the Player of the Match for his blistering 128-run knock and his two-wicket haul.
Mommsen said that they won the toss and they would have liked a few more early wickets, adding that his side pulled them back nicely but didn't get going in the chase, insisting that they didn't quite hit their areas.
However, the Scotland skipper credited his bowlers for bouncing back in the death. He said that it was some learning for them and is hopeful that they would be better when they come up against Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, England skipper Morgan said that he is delighted with his side's performance, adding that they played not within themselves but expressed themselves little bit, which was good to see.
Morgan claimed that the two openers were exceptional and insisted ideally they would have liked to kick on without stuttering. However, he said that they recovered really well to a good score.