ICC T20I WC 2024: Match 28: England vs Oman @00.30 AM IST🏏

🏏ICC T20I WC 2024: Match 28: England vs Oman,  @00.30 AM IST🏏

England are set to face Oman in a crucial Match 28 of the T20 World Cup 2024. The encounter will take place at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Jos Buttler will lead the defending champions, while Aqib Ilyaswill captain Oman.

England still has a chance to qualify for the Super 8s. To keep their hopes alive, they must win this game against Oman and their subsequent match. Additionally, they will need favourable results from other games in their group to ensure a turnaround in their standing. On the other hand, Oman have already been eliminated from the competition after losing their first three games. Despite their exit, Oman will be looking to salvage some pride and possibly disrupt England’s path to the next stage.

In the spotlight - Harry Brook and Aqib Ilyas

Part of the criticism Bairstow copped for his innings in Barbados was fuelled by the "demotion" of Harry Brook to number six. Moeen Ali's floating role - which is set to continue - saw him come in ahead of Brook, who eventually got to the crease upon Moeen's dismissal with 74 to get in just 26 deliveries. The Yorkshire wunderkind could only manage 20 from 16.

Brook has never batted higher than four in T20I cricket, and he's only done that six times in 29 knocks. Getting him into an innings early makes sense, and No.4 seems a prime spot for him in this line-up. Whether that means dropping Bairstow down the order or altogether - unlikely for now - it feels a necessary play to ensure Brook is not wasted. It is worth noting that both times Brook has faced more than 30 deliveries, he has pocketed half-centuries at strike rates of 231.42 (against Pakistan in 2022) and 186.11 (against New Zealand in 2023).

Aqib Ilyas was refreshingly honest after the defeat against Scotland. But it is time for the Oman captain to contribute. Three innings at first drop have reaped just 34 runs from 25 deliveries, all of which have come in the first six overs. He did at least practice the positivity he preached in his last innings, striking 16 off five before being trapped lbw by Safyaan Sharif.

His party trick of bowling offspin to left-handers and leg breaks to right-handers has been effective enough. He started economically across the first two matches at Bridgetown, particularly with his 0 for 18 from four overs against Australia. But there was a rude awakening at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium when his three overs were taken for 41.

Team news

Reece Topley is likely to be brought in for his first appearance of the tournament to add some much-needed dimension to England's bowling attack. If that is the case, it will be for Chris Jordan, with the understanding that England are set to continue with dual pace-threat of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer. The temptation to draft in Ben Duckett to add a left-hander to the XI, at the expense of Bairstow, has been resisted for now.

England (probable): 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Jofra Archer 9. Mark Wood, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley

Oman need a refresh of their batting after a series of costly false starts. Their lead batter Ayaan Khan, with 92 runs at an average of 46.00, has been operating at six but is surely due for a promotion.

Oman (probable): 1 Pratik Athavale (wk), 2 Naseem Khushi, 3 Aqib Ilyas (capt), 4 Zeeshan Maqsood, 5 Ayaan Khan, 6 Rafiullah, 7 Mohammad Nadeem, 8 Mehran Khan, 9 Fayyaz Butt, 10 Samay Shrivastava, 11 Bilal Khan

Pitch and conditions

The two matches played at North Sound so far have both been one-sided, which makes judging the surface a little harder. The ball has carried through well, and batters' intent does bring rewards, but the wind is a big factor here. Much like in Bridgetown, it goes across the ground and is more forceful given the openness of this venue. The forecast looks good, with intermittent cloud cover and an afternoon high of 30 degrees Celsius.

Stats and trivia

• This is the first meeting between England and Oman in a full international fixture 
• Despite playing 13 times at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, including twice during December's white-ball tour of the Caribbean, this will be England's first T20I at the venue. They played here twice during the 2007 ODI World Cup, against Sri Lanka and Australia, losing both. 
• Zeeshan Maqsood needs two more wickets to become the second Oman player with 50 T20I wickets after Bilal Khan

Probable Best Performers

Probable Best Batter

Phil Salt could be the batter to watch for in this encounter. The 27-year-old was in sensational form during the recently concluded Indian Premier League. Against Australia, he played a swashbuckling knock of 37 off 23 balls, hitting four fours and two sixes. If Salt gets going, Oman bowlers will be in peril.

Probable Best Bowler

Mark Wood could have an impact in this game. The tearaway pacer could run through batting lineups on his day. He is yet to pick up a wicket in the five overs he has bowled in the marquee event this year. However, the Oman batters aren't used to facing bowlers who can bowl as fast as Wood. The 34-year-old would be raring to go on Friday.

England to win the match

Scenario 1

England win the toss and opt to bowl first.

Powerplay score: 30-40

Oman - 120-130

England win the match.

Scenario 2

Oman win the toss and opt to bowl first.

Powerplay score: 55-65

England: 175-185

England win the match.

ENG vs OMA: Head-to-Head

England and Oman have not faced each other in an international cricket match in the past and the coming game will be the first meeting between the two nations.

ENG vs OMA: Weather Report

There is prediction of 30 percent rain on Thursday afternoon in Antigua. We will see overcast conditions with a temperature of around 29°C. The humidity and wind speed are predicted to be 73 percent and 10 km/h respectively.

ENG vs OMA: Pitch Report

The pitch in Antigua has been a good scoring venue. Scotland scored 153 here in 13.3 overs while Australia chased down 74 in just 5.4 overs. That tells the story of the pitch to some extent. But this venue is good for batting mostly in the second innings as the ball will move a bit in the first innings and there will be help for the bowlers.

For Jos Buttler's charges, tonight against Oman is the first step towards obtaining the 94-run swing they require in their next two matches (they face Namibia on Saturday) before their hate-watch of Group B's last fixture between Australia and Scotland.

England have had a rough start to their T20 World Cup campaign. Their first game against Scotland was washed out and they lost their next game against Australia comprehensively. The defending champions are in a precarious situation and a foot wrong going forward can end their Super 8 qualification chances. Scotland bolstered their net run-rate against Oman courtesy a quickfire run-chase. England now not only have to win both their group games against Oman and Namibia but have to ensure that they do so by a sizeable margin. The Englishmen will also hope that Australia defeat Scotland by a substantial margin if they are to pip the Scots on NRR.