Scotland qualify for Super 12s, Bangladesh to face Aussies

Scotland have cruised into the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup, the first time they have gone beyond the opening round of an International Cricket Council (ICC) global event.

And Bangladesh have also progressed to the next round, where they will face Australia, albeit a very different looking team than the one they recently beat 4-1 at home.

Scotland topped Group A ahead of Bangladesh after a comfortable victory over Oman in Muscat on Thursday.

That earned them a spot in Group 2 of the Super 12 stage alongside India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Afghanistan and either Ireland or Namibia, who meet in an eliminator for the final place tonight (9pm AEDT, Fox Cricket & Kayo).

Bangladesh, who earlier thrashed Papua New Guinea, go into a strong looking Group 1 with Australia, holders West Indies, England, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Having restricted the group hosts for 122, Oman being all out off the last ball of their innings, Scotland knocked off their target with eight wickets and three overs to spare.

Scotland made a solid start, reaching 33 in the fifth over before George Munsey was dismissed for a 19-ball 20.

Omani joy was soon dissipated however, as Scotland took 25 off the next two overs with Kyle Coetzer hitting a trio of sixes in seven balls.

That put the Scots ahead of the rate and from then on they were in control of the match. Though Khawar Ali bowled Coetzer for a 28-ball 41 Richie Berrington (31) and Matt Cross (26) took the Scots to victory with a composed unbroken partnership of 48. 

Once the result was certain Berrington finished with a flourish, hitting his last two balls for four, then six.

Oman's innings had got off to a terrible start when Jatinder Singh, who made 73 not out against Papua New Guinea and 40 against Bangladesh, was run out off the second ball of the innings.

He called for a quick single off his first ball and found himself at the same end as opening partner Aquib Ilyas, who hadn't run.

Ilyas went on to top score with 37, but the 35 balls he took underlined Oman's struggle to score at more than run-a-ball.

Mohammad Nadeen struck 25 off 21 and Zeeshan Maqsood 34 off 30 but no one else made double figures as Oman lost six wickets for 29 off the last 32 balls, Josh Davey taking 3-25.

"What a day for Scottish cricket, " said Davey. "The boys are buzzing – sensational stuff really."

Referring to the victory over Bangladesh earlier in the group he added: "There is a belief in the side. We are a very strong side, we have a lot of bases covered. We believe we can cause some upsets - and already have. We can take this momentum into the next stage."

In the earlier match, Shakib Al Hasan produced an impressive all-round performance in a big victory against Papua New Guinea in Muscat.

Despite losing Mohammad Naim to the second ball, without a run scored, Bangladesh racked up 7-181 off their 20 overs. Mahmudullah cracked 50 in 28 balls, Shakib scored 46 in 37, and Liton Das 29 in 23.

Mohammad Saifuddin ended with 19 not out after hitting the last three balls of the innings for 16.

PNG began cautiously, reaching 0-11 off 15 balls, but then wickets began to tumble. By the end of the fifth over they were 4-14 and the tie was effectively over.

Shakib took 4-9 off his four overs as PNG were further reduced to 7-29. 

Image Id: 1E04DEE54419482B8CCD23860708C2EA Image Caption: Kiplin Doriga's 46 equalled the output of the other 10 batters // Getty

However, the sixth wicket had brought Kiplin Doriga to the crease. Swinging freely he scored exactly as many as all his team-mates combined, thumping 46 off 34 balls.

The wicketkeeper, who was 26 on Monday, was one hit away from a half-century when the final wicket fell with three balls remaining and PNG dismissed for 97.

"Now the pressure is gone and we can express ourselves and play with more freedom," said Shakib, relieved at Bangladesh's qualification.

Mahmudullah said: "The way we want to play was today's game. We did a very good job to put up a 180-plus score and the bowlers did a really good job.

Looking towards the next stage the Bangladesh captain added: "The two things we've been concerned about are the first six overs with the bat and the ball, if we can get a good start we can capitalise." 

"We just couldn't execute our death bowling under pressure against a really experienced team," said Assad Vala, Papua New Guinea's captain, "[but] there's a lot of we can take from this [tournament]."

2021 Men's T20 World Cup

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How the teams are grouped

Round 1

Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia

Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Oman

Super 12s

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, A2