After all but guaranteeing their place in the Super Eights of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, Australia can choose a different squad for their last Group B encounter against Scotland. Australia would advance to the next round with one game remaining if they defeated Namibia on Tuesday.
With little pressure on the outcome, Andrew McDonald’s team can make some changes to the starting lineup against Scotland on Sunday because their Super Eights Group 1 seeding is already set.
“We need to win [against] Namibia in order to ensure our own passage. And after that, once we’ve confirmed that qualification, we can begin to consider that possibility if we think it’s essential because, as ESPNcricinfo reports, McDonald stated, “If we win this one, we’ll have the ‘Q’ next to our name.”
We don’t really pay attention to England or their current state: Andrew McDonald
England, the reigning champions, need to defeat Scotland’s higher net run rate through victories over Oman and Namibia after losing to Australia and drawing blank against Scotland. The Scots also have the benefit of knowing exactly what goal they need to achieve going into the last group match.
We’re not too concerned by England’s current state. We’ve already dealt with them, moved on, and in the [remaining] games, we’ll play the roles that are vital to us. In the upcoming games, England will undoubtedly need to focus on themselves, McDonald continued.
The Australian head coach expressed some irritation that his team’s achievements during the group stage would not be rewarded in the Super Eights since their position as the second seeds will be guaranteed regardless of the outcome and their net run rates will be reset.
The only somewhat intriguing thing is that your NRR isn’t carried over to the Super Eights. The entire competition recommences. It would have been nice to see the results of the early rounds and what you could accomplish, all the way down to the seeds. We have the second seed. It doesn’t affect our fate in the Super Eights since we are powerless to alter that seeding,” he continued.