Earlier today, the United States of America (USA) became the sixth team to book passage into the Super Eights phase of this summer’s Men’s T20 World Cup.
USA joins India, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Afghanistan in the next stage with just two spots left to be filled ahead of the final round of group stage matches.
The 2021 men’s T20 World Cup winners Australia alongside India and Afghanistan have been slotted into Group 1 of the Super Eight stage, setting up a tantalising contest amongst the three unbeaten teams in this summer’s competition so far.
Co-hosts West Indies and USA will be in Group 2 alongside South Africa in the three confirmed spots of the available four for that group.
Defending champions England are vying with rivals Scotland for the second qualification spot in Group B. Victory over Namibia in their final group match on Saturday will see the English through to the Super Eights, providing that Scotland does not beat Australia later that day. Scotland sit second in the group on five points but need a win against unbeaten Australia to cement their place into the next round. England’s thrashing of Oman saw their points tally reach three but, more importantly, their net run rate (NRR) spiked drastically to 3.081. In comparison Scotland’s NRR is at 2.164.
Over in Group D, Bangladesh are best placed to finish second, with four points gained from their three matches so far. A victory over Nepal in their final group match on Sunday would seal qualification but a loss or no result would not prove fatal if Netherlands, on two points, fail to beat already eliminated Sri Lanka on Sunday night. The Netherlands would require a massive win to give their NRR a boost.
Former Men’s T20 World Cup Winners and last year’s finalists Pakistan headlines the list of sides going home in the group stage. They will be joined by another former winner in Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Oman, Namibia, Papua New Guinea and Nepal.
