If England had intended to lay down a marker in their penultimate fixture before the start of the ICC World Twenty20, this was not it. They duly beat the part-timers of Scotland by six wickets with an over to spare, with Kevin Pietersen allaying any lingering concerns about his fitness with a sparky performance in the field and a matchwinning 53 from 39 balls. But either side of his efforts, England were as flat as the atmosphere on a balmy evening in Nottingham. They lacked penetration with the ball, and at times were numbingly naïve with the bat. But at least they avoided humiliation, and that for the moment will have to do.England did manage to finish with something of a flourish - Pietersen flogged the final ball of the match for six to bring up his half-century, having added 49 in 5.4 overs with Eoin Morgan, whose former team-mates, Ireland, have not had this much trouble in seeing off the Scots in recent months. At first, Morgan wasn't required to do much more than hand the strike back to his partner, although as the winning post drew nearer, he unfurled a few of his trademark hurling strokes to finish on 23 not out from 17.
Up until that partnership, however, England struggled to make headway against a side that had been beset by off-field problems in the build-up to this tournament. Luke Wright epitomised England's strange lack of clarity, as he fretted his way to 19 from 18 balls in his first England appearance since September 2008. Opening the innings with little domestic form to fall back on, he was horrendously dropped on 9 by his namesake, Craig, at mid-on, before picking out the diminutive Majid Haq with a similar stroke two overs later.
