Right on cue, here’s Ali.
England’s next game, their last in this group, is against Namibia on Saturday. It’s at 6pm BST, 1pm local time, at the Viv in Antigua again, and the forecast is not so hot. The Met Office has a forecast for the airport (about five miles away), which mentions a 40pc chance of rain between 11am and 2pm, rising to 50pc after that. So we could still be in for a nail-biter.
And Scotland will know exactly what they have to do, as they don’t play again till over 24 hours later – 8.30pm local time on Sunday (1.30am BST, in the early hours of Monday). All the more reason to join us for England-Namibia, when your unreliable guide to the finer points of net run rate will again be me. Saturday night’s alright for writing.
Ali Martin’s match report will be with you shortly. In the meantime, thanks for your company, correspondence, quips and spreadsheet skills.
“Let’s hope Australia-Scotland not rained off,” says Daniel Brennan. “Else England out regardless.” Good point, though a glance at the BBC forecast for St Lucia suggests that, after a little light thunder around 11am local time, the skies will be clear for several hours before the start of play at 8.30pm.
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“Stick Cricket figures for England’s batsmen,” says Chad Thomas.
“I’m just glad,” adds Jeremy Dresner, “that kit clash didn’t last too long.”
And here’s Ben Mimmack. “I make no great claims for my spreadsheet skills (please don’t tell my employers),” he says, “but I just broke out the sheets and I believe even if England had scored 250 off 20 overs and then bowled out Oman for 47 in 13.2 overs, their NRR from this match would be 8.9 vs the 11.9 they actually banked, so batting second was probably the right decision. That said, the additional overs would have changed the overall weighting, so maybe I’m wrong. And now I have a headache.”
There was a nice little sub-plot to that conversation. “Have you been surprised,” Nasser asked, “how quickly people have written you off after one and a quarter games?”
“Not really,” Buttler said with a wry smile. “I’ve been around long enough to know how it works, how guys like you make some comments. That’s fine, that’s part of your job, I don’t mind.”
Here’s Jos Buttler, who doesn’t seem to have broken sweat despite being on the field for the whole game. Just about the perfect performance, Nasser Hussain suggests, couldn’t ask for more. “Absolutely not,” Buttler says. “I thought the tone was set by the bowlers, we managed to restrict them and knock them off, so job done and we’ve got another big game in two days’ time.
“I thought they bowled brilliantly – that extra bounce, Topley with his height, Jofra with his high release point too… I though they bowled a really good line and length.” And Adil? “He found spin, bowled fantastically well. I don’t think any of us expected the wicket to play like that…” The message to the batters? “Just to be ultra-positive.”
I don’t believe it. Mark Wood has been robbed again.
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Run-rate update: England above Scotland!
I really hope Sky have got this right… Just now they were telling us that England’s net run rate would only rise to +0.3 if they knocked these runs off in three overs. Now that England have managed it in 3.1 overs, Sky have changed their tune and decided that England’s net run rate has soared from -1.80 to +3.08. Our friends at Cricinfo agree, so it doesn’t feel like fake news.
Scotland’s run rate is +2.16. And as long as England beat Namibia and Scotland lose to Australia, England will scrape through to the Super 8s.
Those England strike rates in full
Salt 400 (12 off three balls)
Bairstow 400 (8 off two)
Buttler 300 (24 off 8)
Jacks 71 (5 off seven)
The player of the match is … Adil Rashid. Someone call the police, Mark Wood’s been robbed. Yes, Rashid was masterly, but three of his four victims were tail-enders, whereas Wood dismissed three of the top six.
Those bowling figures in full
Bilal 2-0-36-1
Kaleemullah 1-0-10-1
Fayyaz Butt 0.1-0-4-0
But at least they took two wickets.
So England finally have their first win of this World Cup. And Oman have their fourth defeat, which is tough after they took their first game to a Super Over.
England win by eight wickets! With 101 balls to spare
Fayyaz comes on, bowls one ball, and finds Bairstow pulling it for four, so that is that. England finish on 50-2, Buttler 24 not out, Bairstow 8. They added 30 – easily the highest partnership of the game – off just eight balls.
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3rd over: England 46-2 (Buttler 24, Bairstow 4) Bilal continues and Buttler finds the boundary for the first time, going down the track to hit a drive down the fairway. He follows a golf shot with something from the squash court, a wristy square drive off a full toss, but can’t get it into the gap. A pull for four, a chip for four more, an on-drive for six, and a lofted cut for four: that’s 22 off the over, and Buttler has 24 off eight balls – after not starting all that well. England need two to win.
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2nd over: England 24-2 (Buttler 2, Bairstow 4) Kaleemullah is tall and he got that wicket with his steep bounce. He also befuddled Buttler, who played a Harrow drive for a single. But after his success he ran into Jonny Bairstow, who cut his first ball for four. England are halfway!
WICKET! Jacks c Prajapati b Kaleemullah 5 (England 20-2)
Another one! Jacks tries to slap a short ball, gets it too high on the bat, and sends a skyer into the covers, where Prajapati does well to keep calm and cling on.
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1st over: England 14-1 (Buttler 1, Jacks 1) Jos Buttler faces for the first time and takes a single with a tuck. That three-over chase is still just about possible. England need 34 more to win.
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5th ball: England 13-1 (Buttler 0, Jacks 1) After playing himself in with a block, Jacks whips a single to leg.
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4th ball: England 12-1 (Buttler 0, Jacks 0) We have a dot.
WICKET! Salt b Bilal 12 (England 12-1)
What a retort! Bilal pulls his length back, as you would, and persuades Salt to play on. Still, 12 off three, that’ll do nicely.
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2nd ball: England 12-0 (Salt 12, Buttler 0) Hello, hello! Same again.
1st ball: England 6-0 (Salt 6, Buttler 0) Hello! Salt sees a nice full length from the left-armed Bilal and goes over cover for six.
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The players are out there and Bilal Khan has the ball. No need to change the order yet for England: it’s Phil Salt and Jos Buttler to open as usual.
Run-rate latest. “Even if England get the runs in three overs,” says Ian Ward on Sky, “it’ll only get them to +0.3.” Given that they started the day on -1.80, that doesn’t seem too bad.
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“Is it hard to get a good run rate,” asked Tom van der Gucht half an hour ago, “if you shoot the opponents out cheaply? Exciting stuff so far, but it’s brought to light my ignorance regarding net run rates. If you gun the opponents out for around 40, for example, then spank out the runs in 2 overs, will you not get the opportunity to build up as good a run rate as someone who smashed 250 then bundles the opponents out for 40?”
Good question – so good that it is shining a light on my ignorance too. All I can say is that Australia seem to have done all right after shooting out Namibia for 72. It would seem harsh if teams were penalised for bowling the way England just have, and you’d assume Buttler would have betted first if that was the case. Anybody else know the answer?
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Those bowling figures in full
Topley 3-0-12-0
Archer 3.2-1-12-3
Wood 3-0-12-3
Rashid 4-0-11-4
You have to feel for Chris Jordan.
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We had a point to prove, says Wood
“We had a point to prove,” Mark Wood tells Nasser Hussain. Asked what the pitch is like, he says: “Extra bounce, tennis-ball-y.”
WICKET! Shoaib c Buttler b Archer 11 (Oman 47 all out)
A top edge, a neat catch, and that is that: England have shot Oman out the wrong side of 50. It’s a record for both sides – Oman’s lowest completed total, and the lowest England have ever inflicted on anybody (in a T20).
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12th over: Oman 47-9 (Shoaib Khan 11, Bilal Khan 0) That wicket came off Rashid’s penultimate ball, leaving him with one delivery to try and get the first T20 international five-for of his career. He duly draws Bilal into a cowshot, but it lands short of the man at deep square.
WICKET! Kaleemullah b Rashid 5 (Oman 47-9)
Another batter bamboozled by the googly.
12th over: Oman 45-8 (Shoaib Khan 10, Kaleemullah 5) Hang on! The fightback is on. As Wood returns, the Omanis decide it’s time to make use of that extra pace. Shoaib shovels to midwicket for two, then takes a single, whereupon Kaleemullah announces himself with a forehand down the line for four and a top edge for a single. And then Shoaib tucks a single to fulfil those predictions about double figures. Nine off the over! And the partnership, at 10, is the equal-biggest of the day so far, matching Prajapati and Aqib’s 13-ball vigil for the second wicket.
11th over: Oman 36-8 (Shoaib Khan 6, Kaleemullah 0) Buttler was enjoying himself in that over, giving Rashid a slip and a leg slip. Now he’s got the eighth wicket in the bag, it’s surely time to go the full Steve Waugh.
WICKET! Fayyaz Butt b Rashid 0 (Oman 36-8)
Alas, poor Butt. He survives an appeal for LBW because the googly was doing too much, only to find Rashid instantly bowling it again, subtly dialling down the spin, and spreadeagling the stumps. Rashid now has 3-0-9-3.
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Time for an email. “Given how quickly this innings is going,” says Matt Guthrie in Phoenix, “I’d better hurry up and point out that Afghanistan have also won all of their matches up to now.” Quite right, thanks. Just the two games so far, but they have won both.
10th over: Oman 35-7 (Shoaib Khan 6, Fayyaz Butt 0) Wood’s reward for taking 3 for 3 is to be taken off. Back comes Archer, who rings the changes by bowling a maiden to Shoaib. He looks the best bet to be the first batter of the day in double figures. And that’s drinks with England just about on top.
9th over: Oman 35-7 (Shoaib Khan 6, Fayyaz Butt 0) So Adil has 2-0-8-2. This is like the only time my brother and I ever opened together for the 3rd XI at school. We did so badly that we had to play another match just to pass the time.
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WICKET! Shoaib c Moeen b Rashid 0 (Oman 33-7)
Adil Rashid may have been getting antsy: he’d gone eight balls without a wicket. But now he has his second as another big leg-break draws another false shot and a regulation edge. Moeen atones for his earlier drop by clinging on coolly enough.
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8th over: Oman 32-6 (Shoaib Khan 5, Mehran Khan 0) Wood began his second over with figures of 1-0-1-2, payback time after two bad days at the office. And now he has 2-0-3-3.
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WICKET! Ayaan b Wood 1 (Oman 32-6)
Wood does fall over this time – but it doesn’t matter as his fierce pace leads Ayaan Khan to squirt an inside edge into his stumps.
7th over: Oman 30-5 (Ayaan Khan 0, Shoaib Khan 4) Rashid did well too, changing his usual gambit (pushing it through from the front of the hand) to dish up a floaty leg-break, lovely and slow. He then beats Shoaib Khan twice outside off – but, in between, Shoaib fights back with the first good shot since the lone six, a silky square drive for four, stroked off the back foot.
WICKET!! Khalid Kail st Buttler b Rashid 1 (Oman 25-5)
Adil Rashid strikes first ball too! Jos Buttler does well here, first missing the stumping, then having another go and just doing enough to convince the third umpire. Oman may need to try and bat time now.
6th over: Oman 25-4 (Khalid Kail 0, Ayaan Khan 0) If Wood had fallen over, as he often does, he wouldn’t have caught this. As it was, he stayed on his feet and did well to react as poor Zeeshan found his straight push popping up invitingly. Wood made the grab low to his right and smiled his biggest smile since he collected a leather-bound Almanack in the Long Room in April, as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year. And then he got another one! Here endeth the Powerplay, with England on top.
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WICKET! Prajapati c Livingstone b Wood 9 (Oman 25-4)
And another! Prajapati mistimes a pull and presents Liam Livingstone, at square leg, with the first easy catch of the day.
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WICKET! Zeeshan c & b Wood 1 (Oman 24-3)
Wood strikes first ball!
5th over: Oman 24-2 (Kashyap Prajapati 9, Zeeshan Maqsood 1) Topley continues and there’s nearly a third catch in the ring, as the left-handed Zeeshan chips him just wide of Archer at mid-on. Then the right-handed Prajapati throws his hands at a full ball outside off and gets six! Over gully. A shot in the arm for Oman and a dent in the figures for Topley: 3-0-12-0.
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4th over: Oman 16-2 (Kashyap Prajapati 2, Zeeshan Maqsood 0) So Archer has 2 for 12 off his two overs, and Topley has 0 for 4 off his two. Both exemplary in their different ways.
Dropped! Zeeshan on 0, by Moeen
Archer should have his third! Yet again it goes low, and Moeen at first slip gets down well enough but somehow spills it.
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WICKET! Aqib Ilyas c Jacks b Archer 8 (Oman 16-2)
Jofra strikes again! And again he has a hand from some sharp fielding, as another slap brings another fine low catch, this one from Will Jacks at backward point.
3rd over: Oman 14-1 (Kashyap Prajapati 1, Aqib Ilyas 7) More tidiness from Topley, despite the Omanis’ attempts at improv. Prajapati gets off the mark at last with a scoop, whereupon Aqib says: “I see your scoop and I raise you a slog-sweep.” But both shots yield only a single.
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2nd over: Oman 11-1 (Kashyap Prajapati 0, Aqib Ilyas 5) Jofra Archer joins Topley in a new-ball attack that is mysteriously short of off-spin. And suddenly it’s all happening. A wide! A four! With Athavale going down the track (brave). A catch! (See below.) A bouncer! And a play-and-miss from Aqib, a good batter who has yet to click in this tournament. Another four! A classic cut. And a single to finish.
Meanwhile Phil Bowen has a bone to pick with Brendan Large. “I’m growing tired of reading about England being robbed of a point in their game against Scotland,” Phil fumes. “Scotland were 90 for 0 when rain rescued England.”
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WICKET! Athavale c Salt b Archer 5 (Oman 6-1)
A slap to cover, where Phil Salt does superbly to get his fingers under a stinger.
1st over: Oman 1-0 (Pratik Athavale 1, Kashyap Prajapati 0) Topley finds that steep bounce right away and Athavale does well to shovel the first ball away for a single, possibly off the arm but given as a run. Topley then manages to cramp Prajapati, who has been recalled straight after being dropped with scores of 0 and 7. A single and five dots: good start from Topley.
Even the pitch looks better. Bridgetown, for both England’s games, was like a stale biscuit.
Reece Topley has the ball. England look better already.
“The weather,” says Nasser Hussain, “is set fair. There was a shower earlier but now it’s blue skies and a breeze.” Does the curse of the commentator apply when someone from Sky is talking about the sky?
Out come the teams, both in red – their top halves anyway. Oman’s trousers are red too, while England’s are blue. One of these decades, cricket will hear about the concept of the second strip. Even the flags, lavishly displayed on the outfield, are quite alike. The Omani national anthem, to my untrained ear, is magnificent but on the long side.
The lie of the land
Teams that have won all their games in this World Cup: India, Australia, West Indies and South Africa.
Teams that have won none: Ireland, England, Oman, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
One brings two. “Good evening Tim,” says Krish Krishnamoorthy. “Stepping up to cover the OBO of England vs Oman must be the equivalent to getting a free ticket to watch Waiting for Godot. Who knows, you may be covering history today. Whisper softly...”
Ha. At my school, when we were about 15, we had to read Waiting for Godot round the room. It almost put me off Beckett for life.
The first email comes in from Oman Scandinavia. “Hei Tim,” says Brendan Large. “I’m tuning in from Norway and am now having a slight panic attack. Is there a chance of rain for the game today? If England get knocked out because of 2 washouts it would be very harsh, but also... I want to watch some cricket. So it would be a very very dull result.” It would! The last forecast I saw threatened a few showers, but it seemed to be saying that we would get a game of sorts.
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Teams in full: Oman
Oman 1 Kashyap Prajapati, 2 Pratik Athavale (wk), 3 Aqib Ilyas (capt), 4 Zeeshan Maqsood, 5 Khalid Kail, 6 Ayaan Khan, 7 Shoaib Khan, 8 Mehran Khan, 9 Fayyaz Butt, 10 Kaleemullah, 11 Bilal Khan.
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Teams in full: England
England 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Mark Wood, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley.
Teams in brief: Topley comes in
As widely predicted, Reece Topley gets his first go of the tournament, replacing Chris Jordan. With his swing and height and left-arm angle, he could have made all the difference against Australia.
Toss: England win and bowl
“Looks a really good wicket,” says Jos Buttler. “But we’d like to know what we’re chasing.” How much will the net run rate prey on his team’s minds, Mike Atherton wonders. “Yeah, a little bit.”
Aqib Ilyas says he would have bowled first too.
Weather latest
It’s not raining yet.
Preamble
Evening everyone and welcome to a giant banana skin. A game that should have been a breeze for England is now fraught with danger. It’s not just must-win, it’s must-win-big. After their first two matches of this World Cup, England have no wins, one point, and two old foes sniggering as they see them squirm – Scotland and Australia. Now they meet a new foe in Oman, who will be facing England for the first time ever in international cricket.
England have never successfully defended a World Cup in cricket, football or rugby (not even the women have managed it). So far they haven’t looked remotely like changing that dismal record. Their bowlers were flayed by the Scottish openers, then marmalised by the Aussie ones. Against Scotland, England neither took a wicket nor scored a run. Against Australia, they did both without coming close to winning.
There’s no shame, of course, in losing to the world’s best tournament team. And it was cruel that England’s hopes of bashing 109 in ten overs against Scotland were washed away by the Bridgetown rain. But the upshot is that they are in grave danger of heading for the same embarrassment as when they went to India, eight months ago, as the 50-over world champions.
That said, they’re English – they’re used to being embarrassed. And they now face what are on paper their two easiest assignments, against Oman and Namibia. Oman have even fewer points than England (none), but only because they lost to Namibia in a Super Over.
Both games are at the Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua and, weather permitting, England should win them by a street. The question is: will it be a wide enough street to lead to the Super Eights?
Play is due to start at 3pm local time, 8pm BST. So I hope to see you soon around 7.35pm BST with news of the toss and teams.
