Australia could bench key players in their last group match of the T20 World Cup 2024 against Scotland as that match could potentially decide England’s future.
Australia will play Oman in their third match of the T20 World Cup on Tuesday and a win in Antigua could put them in the last eight, giving them the luxury of resting some important players against Scotland.
The Aussies’ head coach, Andrew McDonald, did not rule out benching key players against Scotland but he argued that they first need to beat Oman.
“We need a win to guarantee a way through. After that, once we’ve firmed up qualification, we can then look at that potential,” McDonald said.
England’s first match of the tournament against Scotland was washed out and both teams shared a point. In their second match, they ended up losing to Australia while Scotland beat Oman and Namibia. The defending champions’ chances of making it to the Super 8 are no longer in their hands.
“We’re not really focused on England and where they are at,” said McDonald. “England have clearly got their own work to do in their next couple of games. We were put in a similar situation in the last World Cup where we had to chase net run rate and it’s always difficult, depending on other results. But that’s for them to work through.”
To qualify for the Super 8 stage, England not only need to win their remaining matches against Namibia and Oman but also hope other results go their way.
If England claim victories in both of their remaining matches and Scotland lose against Australia, both teams would be tied on five points. In that case, the Net Run Rate (NRR) will be of utmost importance.
England will not only look to win their remaining matches, but also by a good margin, in a bid to improve their NRR. This is because Scotland already has a good NRR of 2.164.
If both England and Scotland end on 5 points, the team having a higher NRR will qualify for the Super 8 stage.
