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T20s should be a simple game, but England’s World Cup defence has been incredibly complicated. Whether they can reach the Super 8s and avoid further embarrassment at the World Cup depends on two games and six different opponents: Oman, Namibia, Australia, Scotland, goal difference and the weather in Antigua.
One slip-up – a crushing defeat, an unspoken carve-up between Australia and Scotland, even a narrow win over Oman or Namibia – and England’s era of white-ball glory would be over. But if they sneak through, all is clean, and it feels like 2022.
England’s task tonight is to beat Oman and get their attacking rate up to the next level. If England win both games and Australia beat Scotland, then England will have enough chances to qualify. But there are various reasons why this may not happen.
Jos Buttler and Matthew Motte may be fighting to keep their places, which is hard to reconcile with the fact that England have only lost one game in this tournament. They did struggle against Australia, they also failed miserably against Scotland, and the decision to leave Reece Topley out against Australia is getting worse by the day. But they still only lost one game, so it seems premature to compare this tournament to last year’s 50-over nightmare in India.
“I don’t think it’s time to lose,” Butler said. “I think it’s pretty clear what we need to do and how we should play. First of all, we need to win the game against Oman to have a chance to get into the next game. So we have to win the game. If we can put ourselves in a position to affect the goal difference, obviously that’s what we need to do.”
The game starts at 8 p.m.. Weather permitting.
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