Scotland secured their second victory in a row at the T20 World Cup to pile the pressure on Group B rivals England in the battle for a Super 8 spot.
Richie Berrington’s men sit on five points from three games, with Tuesday’s washout against England followed by a five-wicket win over Namibia and now a seven-wicket drubbing of Oman.
Scotland chased down their target of 151 in just 13.1 overs against Oman with Brandon McMullen clubbing an unbeaten 61 from 31 balls after opener George Munsey made a brisk of 41 from 20.
There is a distinct possibility that Scotland and England will be locked on five points after all matches in this pool have been completed, a scenario that will play out if Scotland lose their final clash against Australia in St Lucia next Sunday and England see off qualifiers Oman and Namibia in Antigua.
If that does happen, net run-rate will determine which of the two sides progress and Scotland’s is a healthy +2.164 at the moment, with England’s languishing at -1.80 after their 36-run defeat to Australia in Barbados on Saturday night.
Scotland will definitely knock England out if they beat Australia and rise to seven points, provided Australia also overcome Namibia at North Sound on Wednesday to move onto six points.
McMullen, who struck nine fours and two sixes, said afterwards: “The main priority was to win the game and get the two points. But at the drinks break, we decided to have a crack at the net run-rate.”
The Scotland opener is “very confident” of reaching the Super 8s adding: “It gives us confidence going into the Australia game.
“We’ve done really well as a group so far. We’ve got to stay level-headed, keep raising that bar.”
Seam bowler Safyaan Sharif marked his 200th appearance for Scotland with two wickets, bagging figures of 2-40 from overs, while Brad Wheal claimed 1-19 from four overs in Oman’s 150-7.
Pratik Athavale hit 54 for Oman at the top of the order but his side slipped to a third straight defeat after a Super Over loss to Namibia and 39-run reverse against 2021 champions Australia.
Eoin Morgan, Nasser Hussain and Urooj Mumtaz join Ian Ward to discuss their dream T20 World Cup XI.
What’s next?
There is just one game at the T20 World Cup on Monday with New York the venue once again as South Africa face Bangladesh.
South Africa have beaten Sri Lanka and Netherlands across their first two matches in Group D, while Bangladesh’s sole fixture so far ended in a two-wicket win over Sri Lanka.
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