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Scotland take on Oman with Super Eight spot a realistic dream
Scotland must be wondering what they have to do to be noticed at the T20 World Cup.
Their terrific win over Namibia on a slow Kensington Oval deck was sandwiched somewhere between USA’s Super Over stunner over Pakistan, Canada trumping Ireland, and Afghanistan steamrolling New Zealand.
Two nights prior to that result against Namibia, Scotland had England sweating in the rain. Most eyes will be on the game when Scotland take on fellow Associates Oman in Antigua today. But, whether in the spotlight or not, they are where they would have liked to be, and could be closer to their target after the Oman game.
George Munsey fired against England, taking down pace and spin alike, overcoming the slowness of the surface with ease. In their second game, Richie Berrington and Michael Leask stood up under pressure to give Scotland the win after a potentially tricky chase of 156.
Oman, meanwhile, haven’t performed half as badly as the table suggests. Two losses in two games can be a bitter pill to swallow, but they have competed hard in both. They showed admirable pluck in taking the game against Namibia into a Super Over, and then had Australia in a stranglehold for 14 overs, before it fell apart.
One complete performance is what Oman will be after to stay alive, even if only mathematically. Scotland will want to prevent that. This could be a cracking contest between two sides that are ambitious, talented, and looking to hit a higher level.
Oman have been three down inside the powerplay in both their games so far, and could make some tweaks to their top order. Will Ayaan Khan get a promotion?
Oman (probable XI): Kashyap Prajapati, Pratik Athvale (wk), Aqib Ilyas (capt), Zeeshan Maqsood, Ayaan Khan, Khalid Kail, Shoaib Khan, Mehran Khan, Shakeel Ahmed, Kaleemullah, Bilal Khan
Scotland have their entire squad to choose from, but don’t seem to have any reason to make changes.
Scotland (probable XI): George Munsey, Michael Jones, Brandon McMullen, Richie Berrington (capt), Matthew Cross (wk), Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Chris Sole, Brad Wheal, Brad Currie
[Cricinfo]