Scotland are not letting England breathe easy in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup as they have gotten to five points in Group B, the maximum, which the defending champions can get to after a rather comfortable win against Oman in their third match of the tournament at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
Scotland made a mockery of 151-run target as they chased it down without breaking a sweat and with 41 balls to spare to boost their net run rate. Scotland have made Group B really interesting as they now stand a chance to qualify for the Super 8s, ahead of their neighbours England, who are yet to register a win in the competition and Oman stand eliminated after three losses in as many matches.
Oman chose to bat first in a do-or-die clash and the one change they made at the top of the order worked for the Asian side instantly as Pratik Athavale helped his side get to a good start in terms of number of runs. Oman did lose a couple of wickets including that of skipper Aqib Ilyas, who came in with aggressive intent but it was Athavale who helped Oman stay afloat despite being two inside the powerplay.
Athavale held one end up but Oman kept losing wickets even after the powerplay. The wickets at regular intervals didn't help Oman and their momentum. Athavale completed his fifty and it seemed like he and Ayaan Khan would take Oman to a total in excess of 160 but another collapse followed the Men in Red and they could only muster 150 runs on the board. Ayaan remained unbeaten on 41 but off 39 balls and didn't get the finishing kick which he'd hoped for.
Scotland batters came out all guns blazing. Once they were 50/1 in the powerplay owing to George Munsey and Brandon McMullen blitz, they just didn't stop. Munsey got out for a 20-ball 41 but McMullen continued on his work and brought up a 27-ball fifty. Dropped catches didn't help Oman which skipper Ilyas mentioned at the post-match interview. Ilyas got his opposite number late in the piece but Scotland were in the driver's seat and McMullen and Matthew Cross finished it in a hurry to take their side through.
Scotland face Australia in their final group stage game and even if they lose, they'd just have to ensure that they don't go down by a huge margin as the NRR boost they got on Sunday should keep them in a good stead for a place in Super 8.
