Defending champions England find their campaign in dire straits as they take on Oman at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua. After two matches, England have managed to gain just one point, thanks to a washout in the opening encounter against Scotland, followed by a rough defeat against arch-rivals Australia. The two results mean they are scrambling to secure the second spot (Australia have already sealed a spot from Group B).
Scotland are already on five points with one last match to play. Jos Buttler and Co need to defeat both Oman and Namibia by significant margins and hope that Australia defeat Scotland heavily, allowing England to edge out the Scots on NRR. What will put more pressure on England is Josh Hazlewood’s comments that Australia could consider the thought of playing slower against Scotland in order to .
Oman, meanwhile, were the first team to be knocked out of contention for the Super 8 stage. They will take heart from the narrow defeat (via the Super Over) they endured earlier in the league stage. After chasing down the paltry target of 73 runs posted by Namibia inside the first six overs on Wednesday, the Australian cricket team could possibly yield to temptation and take it easy against Scotland in their next group game.
The reason? It could make life difficult for the England cricket team, who are currently in a scramble to make the cut for the Super 8 at the ongoing T20 World Cup. At least that’s what Australia’s Josh Hazlewood has.