T20 World Cup 2024: England qualify for Super 8 as Australia beat Scotland

Australia gave a helping hand to England and pushed them to the Super 8 with a five-wicket win over Scotland at St. Lucia on Sunday in the T20 World Cup 2024. England defeated Namibia in their last Group B match but their progress to the Super 8 depended on the Australia vs Scotland match result. With Scotland already having as many points as England, the Three Lions needed their neighbours to lose to their arch-rivals to qualify for the second round.

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And despite their bitter rivalry and Josh Hazlewood’s suggestion before the match that Australia would want to knock out England from T20 World Cup 2024, the Aussies obliged and defeated Scotland which paved the way for England’s entry into the Super 8.

Scotland batted first at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium after Mitchell Marsh won the toss and asked the Associate Nation to set a target. Brandon McMullen and captain Richie Berrington scored 60 and 42 respectively as Scotland posted a challenging 180/5. The Scots were also helped by some sloppy fielding by the Australian team who dropped multiple catches.

In reply, Travis Head made an explosive start for the Aussies but a top-order failure saw them reduced to 60/3 before Marcus Stoinis came to the middle to forge an 80-run stand. Head fell in the 16th over after scoring 68 and Stonis (59) departed in the next while the asking rate climbed up to 13. But Tim David took control of the situation with a quickfire 24 off 14 balls as Australia completed the chase with two balls remaining.

Mark Watt and Safyaan Sharif took two wickets each for Scotland but were unable to stop the Aussie charge. Their first defeat in the tournament meant that Scotland were stuck on five points and England qualified for Super 8 on net run rate (NRR).

England had moved to five points just a while earlier by beating Namibia.