England race to mammoth win over Oman and overhaul NRR deficit
England ripped through Oman in Antigua, bowling them out for 47 and chasing it down in 3.1 overs to keep their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title defence alive.
England dominate to keep qualification hopes alive | Match Highlights | ENG v OMA
Faced with a target of just 48 to win, England roared out of the blocks as Phil Salt slammed the first two balls for six before chopping on to the third ball of the innings.
And England continued to make extremely short work of the target as Jos Buttler (24* from 8 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (8* from 2) tore into the Oman attack after Will Jacks had departed for 5 from 7.
The win is exactly what England required to turn Group B’s NRR equation on its head, and brought a curtain down on Oman’s tournament in demoralising fashion against the reigning Champions.
Earlier, England’s pace blew Oman away as Mark Wood and Jofra Archer took three wickets apiece to help skittle their Group B opponents for just 47 in 13.2 overs.
Archer did the early damage, taking two Powerplay wickets and returning to wrap things up with his third, to end with figures of 3/12 from 3.2 overs.
And Wood brought up his 50th wicket in T20 Internationals in the process of taking 3/12.
Mark Wood takes his 50th T20I wicket as he dismisses Ayaan Khan.
It wasn’t just pace that did the damage, as Adil Rashid proved too good for the Oman tail, with the England leggie picking 4/11 in his four outstanding overs.
How England demolished Oman with the ball
England won the toss and opted to bowl first against Oman in North Sound, Antigua, with captain Jos Buttler announcing one change to the playing XI, with Reece Topley replacing Chris Jordan.
And the decision to hit Oman with a pace assault reaped early rewards, as England picked up a flurry of early wickets.
Jofra Archer bagged two in the Powerplay, having both Pratik Athavale (5) and captain Aqib Ilyas (8) caught in the ring, with Reece Topley bowling nicely but without reward at the other end.
It was the extra pace of Mark Wood that continued to pile on the hurt for Oman, as he exposed the tail with quickfire wickets, dismissing Zeeshan Maqsood (1), Kashyap Prajapati (9) and Ayaan Khan (1) in his first two overs.
It wasn’t all pace that did the damage for England, with Adil Rashid also getting amongst the wickets. Jos Buttler stumped Khalid Kail (1) and Moeen Ali held onto a tricky catch at slip to remove Mehran Khan (0) off the leg-spinner.
Rashid cleaned up both Fayyaz Butt and Kaleemullah, pulling out all the tricks in a wonderful spell.
And Archer returned to finish the job, removing the only batter to reach double figures, as Shoaib Khan skied one to Buttler for 11.
Oman’s total of 47 all out in 13.2 overs handed England's batters a terrific opportunity to make a big statement, which they duly took.
T20 World Cup State of Play: Second round taking shape as qualification race heats up
England now have a superior net run rate to second-placed Scotland in Group B, so would qualify for the Super 8 should they beat Namibia and Scotland fail to get a point against Australia.
For Oman, this fourth defeat in the group was the most disappointing performance of the campaign, but they showed plenty in earlier matches to offer hope for the future.