uk 50 for 2 (Butler 24*) beats Oman 47 (Rashid 4-11, Archer 3-12, Wood 3-12) x 8 wickets, 101 balls remaining.
Assuming England can get a further two points against Namibia on Saturday, Scotland will have the difficult task of beating Group B leaders Australia if they hope to progress to the Super Eight. You may be reluctant to allow that prospect.
England are quick and flexible in the powerplay
The tone was set for a blistering power play as England unleashed their heaviest artillery fire of the tournament so far. Two wickets each for Jofra Archer and Mark Wood combined with a searching three-over spell from the left-arm seamer of returning Reece Topley to reduce Oman to 25 for four. It was immediately 25 for 5 when Rashid announced his arrival. Another groundbreaking first ball.
Topley is certainly regarded as Britain’s unluckiest campaigner in recent times. He could have been a key factor in the 2022 title-winning side had he not rolled his ankle on a boundary mark in the warm-up match in Brisbane, then broke his finger while chasing well in the 50-over World Cup in India. Before Christmas.
But here he set the tone with an exemplary one-run opening. Surprisingly, this was their first T20 World Cup since the 2016 edition in India. As a result, Archer hit his second legal delivery with an opportunistic slap from Pratik Athavale. At short cover, Phil Salt covers at low odds.
Archer had two overs to go when Aqib Ilyas hit another low catch to Will Jacks at back point. Will Jacks hung on by juggling. Unlike Moeen Ali, who later got Zeeshan Maqsood’s routine giggling off his balls. grasp. But that hardly mattered. Maqsood did not want to line up on Wood’s sharp looser as he lobbed the return catch off the quick’s first ball, and Kashyap Prajapati put a dent in Topley’s figures by hitting a short cover boundary for six. There was no response to the injection of raw pace as Wood dressed and pulled him to midwicket to clean him out.
Rashid rips off the rest.
With the game wide open, Rashid was the perfect weapon to exploit Oman’s weak spots, demonstrating his relentless superiority. Four overs on the trot, a wicket each and a solitary boundary from Shoaib Khan through point amid an incredible 20 dot balls.
His first wicket came from his biggest ripper. It was an agenda-setting leg-break that almost turned Khalid Kail’s unbalanced sweep sideways, with Jos Buttler missing his first stumping attempt as he had too much distance to extend his gloves. Due to Kail’s lack of game awareness, he only made it the second time.
Moeen made amends for his own fall in Rashid’s second over by comfortably taking off Mehran Khan’s loose drive, at which stage Wood bagged his 50th T20I wicket with another full-length rocket to guide the inside edge of Ayaan Khan. I put it in . Rashid’s third ball was a precise googly that ripped off Fayyaz Butt’s gate after he had pounded the pads in his previous attempt, and when he bowled Kaleemullah for 5 with his second ball, Oman were 47 for 9 and slumped.
Two balls later, Archer came back for the final over before Buttler could even consider switching to the fifth bowler and guided Shoaib Khan into the hoist behind the square, forcing Buttler to clear the resistance and track him back towards fine, duly ending the match. I did. leg.
salt and battery
The crunchy numbers indicate that England could surpass Scotland’s NRR if they win the contest in under 5.2 overs. As long as Phil Salt’s 3-ball 12 lasted, he gave the impression that a 1.2-over-par finish was more realistic. Bilal Khan’s first two balls were full and attractive and he was treated to a powerful strike over wide long-off for a six. But his third ball was dragged half a yard back to push his stumps through the thin inside edge.
It wasn’t quite full throttle after that, but it wasn’t exactly a complicated scenario. After conceding a sight-out, Will Jacks firmly grounded Kaleemullah’s no-ball before completing a similarly ferocious stroke in the same over. However, Jonny Bairstow covered the first delivery for four, which resulted in Buttler hitting Bilal for four and a six in the second over. Bairstow then slammed his second four off as many balls and that was the end of it.
Andrew Miller is ESPNcricinfo’s UK editor. @Miller_Cricket
