The last of the three matches at the T20 World Cup on Saturday sees Group B coming to a close with what could be a dramatic match as the 2021 champions Australia take on Scotland in the first game in St Lucia.
Australia have already booked their spot in the next round of the tournament so this game means nothing to them. If England have won earlier in the day then Scotland will need to win this one to make it through and knock the English out.
Australia
Australia were a little slow out of the blocks in this tournament, which was probably understandable given that so many of their players were at the IPL until towards the latter stages of it but they came to life in their second match which they dominated against England and were then far too good for Namibia last time out and now they have the chance to make it through their group phase with a perfect record should they get the better of Scotland here.
Australia have earned the chance to rotate their side for this match and ensure that those who are yet to get a game have the opportunity and also those who might not have shown much form so far get the chance to have longer in the middle without the result mattering to them. They will be looking to show their explosive form with the bat once again while if they can get some wickets into the fringe bowlers that won’t be a bad thing.
Scotland
I’m sure Scotland would have taken having their destiny in their own control heading into their final match of the group phase. They would certainly have taken being unbeaten going into this game but there might be a tinge of disappointment that the rain denied them what would have been a strong chance of beating England in the opening game. That said, if the rain ensures that they are through before they take to the field here then they might not be complaining as much.
The impressive thing regarding the Scots in this tournament is how well they have batted during it. They have taken the attack to the bowlers in all three matches so far and have been rewarded for it. It will be interesting to see if they can do that to this Australia attack. If they can and don’t lose wickets doing it then they will be competitive although you do fear for their own bowling, especially on what is usually a good ground for the batters.
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Team News
Australia are expected to get game time into the three members of their squad who are yet to have it which means that Josh Inglis, Ashton Agar and Cameron Green. Mitchell Starc sat out the last game and it might be the turn of Josh Hazlewood here, especially with the scrutiny on him after his daft comments after that match.
Scotland went into the last game without Brad Currie but it appears that he is fit from whatever issue kept him out of the win over Oman so he is expected to come back into the side potentially in place of Safyaan Sharif.
Betting
We have seen throughout this tournament that Australia are going to go hard with the bat and when you consider they have no competitive pressure on them in this one I don’t see any reason why that won’t change against a bowling attack which can go the distance in the opening six overs at least. Oman scored 54 against it in the last game and there is no questioning that the top three or four of Australia are much more aggressive and powerful than the top order of Oman. The powerplay runs line for Australia in this one is 59.5 and on a St Lucia ground which is usually very good for batting I expect that to be covered by Warner, Head and whoever else is needed.
The other bet I’ll go with is for Michael Leask to be the leading Scotland batter in the game. He has only had one innings in the tournament, so if Scotland have already qualified by the time they start this match it might be that he goes up the order to guarantee that he gets more time in the middle. In the match he has played he clobbered 35 in 17 balls against Namibia and that was down at six and although it wasn’t a top score, Australia have a better new ball attack to potentially have a lower score to chase. Leask has produced a number of cameos in this format of the game so wherever he bats a near double figure price feels big.
Tips
Back Australia First 6 Overs – Over 59.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Betway
Back M.Leask Top Scotland Batter for a 1/10 stake at 10.00 with Betfair
