In securing victory over Namibia in a rain-shortened thrash, England had done all they could do. It was then back to the team hotel, bolstered by a 41-run win, to discover whether Australia could offer them safe passage into the Super Eight phase of this men’s T20 World Cup by beating Scotland in St Lucia.
It had been a maddening afternoon in North Sound, rain showers having pushed the 1pm start back some three hours and leaving just enough time for what, with one further mid-innings burst, became a 10-over per side contest. But after all that waiting around, the ground staff having performed cricket’s version of the Cha Cha Slide, Jos Buttler’s team hauled themselves level with Scotland’s five points. More importantly, they had nudged them out of second place on net run-rate.
