England win by 119 runs against Scotland

England today snatched their first victory in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 against Scotland by 119 runs at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.

Shattered by the hosts of this year's tournament -- Australia and New Zealand -- in the first two matches, England eventually managed to show a sturdy performance against their neighbouring nation.

Earlier, Scotland won the toss and sent England to bat first.

The splendid batting partnership of 172 runs by openers Moeen Ali and Ian Bell, the English side piled up 303 runs losing 8 wickets.

Ali scored a ton (128 runs) and Bell scored 54. Skipper and middle-order batsman Eoin Morgan added another 46 runs to the scorecard.

Though being non-economical, Scottish bowler Josh Davey picked up four wickets for 68 runs. Iain Wardlaw, Alasdair Evans, Majid Haq and Richie Berrington picked one wicket each.

In retaliation, Scotland came to the crease started to lose wicket from one end while Kyle Coetzer held the other side. Eventually he was sent back to pavilion by Ali on his 71 runs.

Only three other Scotts reached two-figure marks -- Preston Mommsen, Mathew Cross and Haq -- scored 26, 23 and 15 runs respectively.

Steven Finn picked three wickets while spinner Ali, Chris Woakes and James Anderson picked two wickets each. Josh Root also bagged one.

Moeen Ali was given the Player of the Match award for his century and two-wicket haul.

England will face Sri Lanka on March 1 while Scotland is due to play against Bangladesh on March 5.

Teams
England:  Ian Bell, Moeen Ali,  Gary Ballance,  Joe Root,  Eoin Morgan (capt),  James Taylor,  Jos Buttler (wk),  Chris Woakes,  Stuart Broad, Steven Finn and James Anderson

Scotland: Kyle Coetzer,  Calum MacLeod,  Freddie Coleman,  Matt Machan,  Preston Mommsen, Richie Berrington,  Matthew Cross,  Josh Davey,  Majid Haq, Alasdair Evans and Iain Wardlaw