England stay alive with Aussie help – Valiant Scotland miss out on World Cup Super Eight

NORTH SOUND: England’s defence of the Twenty20 World Cup title is still alive after a must-win over Namibia in a rain-affected match, followed by a helping hand from traditional rivals Australia later on Saturday.

To reach the Super Eight, England first had to beat Namibia in their maiden T20 matchup. Persistent showers almost ruined the chance, but the match started three hours late and was reduced to 11 overs, then ten overs after another heavy shower.

England were made to bat first and rallied to 122-5.

Namibia, given a rain-adjusted target of 126, managed only 84-3 and lost by 41 runs.

England did what they had to, then had to wait a few more hours and hope Scotland lost to Australia in Saint Lucia to be sure of advancing from Group B.

Australia, who had already qualified from Group B, were made to work but eventually overpowered Scotland in a five-wicket win to give England the result they needed to progress to the Super Eight.

England were anxious for most of the day, thanks to the weather. They had already suffered one washout — their opener against Scotland — and a second washout in four group games would have sent them home.

Because of what was at stake, the umpires waited as long as possible at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium to get play under way.

Australia end Scotland’s dream

At Gros Islet, St Lucia, Group B leaders Australia were made to work hard in their maiden T20 matchup against Scotland before they rallied late to win by five wickets.

After England’s 41-run victory saw them jump into second place in the group, Scotland knew they had to beat Australia to advance to the Super Eight.

Scotland were made to bat first and built a competitive 180-5.

Australia were on the backfoot for most of the innings until some big-hitting from Travis Head (68 from 49 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (59 from 29 balls) seized back momentum in the late overs and saw the Aussies home.

“Obviously, it’s hugely disappointing as a group,” said Scotland batsman Brandon McCullen who top-scored with 60.

“We’ve played some real good cricket in this tournament so far and the belief was super high going into today’s game.

“We had a good start in the first half of the game and the first innings and we just couldn’t quite back it up in the bowling.”

Scotland seeking to make the playoff stage of a T20 World Cup for the first time started brightly with George Munsey (35 off 23 balls) and Brandon McMullen (60 off 34 balls) getting Scotland off to a brisk start after Michael Jones was bowled by Ashton Agar in the first over.

Captain Richie Berrington kept the scoreboard ticking for the Scots with an unbeaten 42 off 31 balls, but Australia’s closing bowlers off Nathan Ellis, Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa restricted Scotland from getting closer to the 200 run total they looked like achieving for most of the innings.

Australia’s reply started shakily with David Warner out for one in the second over caught in the deep off Brad Wheal.

Captain Mitch Marsh never got going in his brief innings of eight off nine balls before he was Safyarn Shariff’s first wicket as Australia fell to 34-2 in a subdued powerplay.

Glenn Maxwell was then bowled by a brilliant offspin delivery from Mark Watt as Scotland’s hopes raised.

Scotland’s bowlers were mostly disciplined in their line and length as they restricted Head and Stonis from the acceleration they needed.

But the match turned quickly in the 16th over when Head hit three sixes off Sharif (2-42) before he holed-out looking for another. Stoinis found another boundary off the final ball of the over to raise his half-century off 25 balls as Australia plundered a game-changing 24 runs.

Now needing 36 runs off the final four overs, Tim David (24 off 14 balls) made light work of the chase with a string of boundaries to finally end Scotland’s hopes of a famous victory and a spot in the Super Eight stage at England’s expense.

Australia topped Group B with eight points from four matches, with England leaping into second place on five points and ahead of Scotland on net run rate.

India washout

The India-Canada game in Florida was abandoned without a ball bowled.

The outfield in Broward County Stadium was too wet for play, and the match was called off only an hour after its scheduled morning start.

Unbeaten India had already qualified for the Super Eight as the Group A winner. Canada finished group play with only a precious win over Ireland.

India start the Super Eight against Afghanistan on Thursday in Barbados.