T20IWC : Aussies overcome tough Scotland , helps Eng progress to next round , India game washed out

 

In the last league match of Group B in the T20 World Cup, Australia defeated Scotland in the last over, which directly benefited England and on the basis of better run rate, the English reached the Super-8. Australia had already qualified from this group. If Scotland had managed to defeat the Kangaroos in this match, they would have reached the Super-8, but this could not happen. In response to the target of 181 runs given by Scotland, Australia was in deep trouble at one time. In the 9th over, the score had become 60 runs at the loss of three wickets with Warner , Marsh & Maxwell getting out cheaply . However from here Travis Head (68 runs in 49 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (59 runs in 29 balls) rescued the team from difficulties. Head took a while to get into his gears but exploded after his 50 while Stoinis batted brilliantly right from the outset picking the gaps and hitting big sixes to shift gears just at the right time in what was progressively getting a difficult run chase 

Earlier, after losing the toss and batting first, Scotland scored 180 runs at the loss of five wickets in the stipulated 20 overs on the basis of brilliant batting by Brandon McMullen (60 runs in 34 balls), George Munsey (35) and captain Richie Berrington (42).  McMullen looked in dazzling touch as he smashed a half-century in 26 balls before getting out, he finished on 60 while Munsey made 35 and took Scotland towards a big score.

Australia had already sealed their place in the Super-8 round, but now they are entering the next round with an unbeaten record. Scotland had a great chance to reach the Super-8. England's win over Namibia by Duckworth Lewis method meant that Scotland had to win today at all costs. The defeat brought NRR into play, where England had the advantage. Both teams in Group B finished their journey with five points each, but England took the lead in the race as their NRR was 3.61 while Scotland's NRR was 1.25.  The fact that England themselves beat Namibia in their last game also helped their cause. 

Earlier in the 34th match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 played between England and Namibia at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in Antigua , England won a rain shortened game . Due to rain, this match was of only 10 overs, in which England won the field by 41 runs due to DLS method. England set a target of 123 runs in front of Namibia and allowed them to score only 84 runs for 3 wickets in 10 overs. This was England's last group stage match.

The Namibian captain won the toss against England and decided to bowl first, which did not prove to be so effective. England launched a fierce onslaught after early losses of their openers and scored 122 runs for 5 wickets in the stipulated 10 overs.  Harry Brook scored the highest 47 runs for England. He hit 4 dazzling  fours and 2 huge sixes in his innings. Harry remained unbeaten till the end. Apart from this, Jonny Bairstow also played an explosive innings of 31 runs. In the end, Moeen Ali scored 16 and Liam Livingstone scored 13 runs quickly. Ruben Trumpelman took 2 wickets for Namibia while David VJ and Bernard Scholtz got one success each.

After setting a big target of 123 runs, England bowled brilliantly and restricted Namibia to a score of only 84 runs. England took only 3 wickets but did not let Namibia score runs. Michael van Lingen scored the highest 33 runs for Namibia. At the same time, David VJ also played an aggressive innings of 27 runs. Chris Jordan took one wicket and Jofra Archer took one wicket for England. Nico Devlin was retired out.

Meanwhile India's last scheduled league gane vs Canada was washed out at Florida due to rains & wet outfield . India had already reached the super 8 stage comfortably .