The second leg of the T20 World Cup double header on Sunday takes us over to Antigua for the first time in the tournament for the Group B clash between Oman and Scotland which suddenly looks like a very significant one.
Scotland can take a massive step towards qualifying for the next stage of the competition with a win here. Oman aren’t going to qualify after two defeats in two but they can still play the role of spoiler and will be looking to do that here.
Oman
To be fair to Oman, although they have lost their opening two matches in the competition, they have been more competitive in them than many expected. They ran Namibia into a super over where it all fell apart for them in their first game and it wasn’t until the last six or overs that Australia got away from them in the second one and even then Oman put up a score which was respectable when you consider what other associate teams have done against the full member sides.
If Oman can perform like they have been so far in this match then they are certainly going to cause some scares for Scotland and we shouldn’t ignore the fact that all the pressure is on the Scots in this one and Oman might be able to get into a position where they can play on that. In an ideal world they would eek a little bit more out of their batting effort and against more familiar opposition that might well happen. If it does Oman are a threat.
Scotland
I would imagine Scotland will be absolutely delighted with their start to the tournament but they will know that it will count for nothing if they don’t come out on top in this one. If they do win this game then the worst case scenario that they might find themselves in for their last game against Australia is only having to lose by a certain amount to stay in front on net run rate and make it into the super eights. The more they can win by here the bigger margin they will be able to afford themselves in that last game.
Scotland have batted really well at the beginning of this tournament. Although they only batted 10 overs against England they didn’t lose a wicket and had the rain not arrived there is every chance they would have won that game and then against Namibia they held their nerve when things were getting a little tight and when the loose over came along they took full advantage and won easily. With more to come with the ball now they have had a hit out Scotland are entitled to be dangerous.
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Team News
Oman have been competitive enough in this tournament to suggest that they won’t rush into many changes for this match but having messed up both batting powerplays you wonder if they will juggle with their batting order.
Scotland haven’t made a change for this competition yet and having won and put up a solid 10 overs in their two matches there is no need for change here unless conditions dictate that they want to alter their bowling unit.
Betting
I’m not going to go too mad here until we’ve had an assessment of the conditions at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium but if the pitch here is anything like the others in the tournament then it is going to have a bit in it with the new ball and the batters down the order are going to be the ones who did to do the majority of the scoring. There are lots of games on this ground though so there might be a decent pitch first up so I’ll wait and see what we’re offered.
I will go with one bet though and that comes in the performance line of Mehran Khan who has had a decent tournament so far. He took 3/7 and scores seven runs against Namibia in the opening game and then took 2/38 and scored 27 against Australia in the second one so I’m a little surprised that he has a performance line of 28.5. He has played two T20 internationals against Scotland and scored 29 in the second of them so there is plenty to suggest that he can have the impact on this match that Oman would want him to and cover his performance in the process.
Tips
Back M.Khan’s Performance – Over 28.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
