The final game of Group B sees Scotland needing to cause a major upset to progress through to the Super Eight stage. While Australia will be looking to make it four wins on the bounce to head into the next stage full of momentum, check out our full preview below!
2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Preview & Betting Tips
Australia vs Scotland
St Lucia, Sunday 16th June, 10:30am AEST
Australia
Predicted XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Tim David, Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Nathan Ellis
After securing their place in the Super Eights, Australia have stated they will look to rest some players given they’ll have to play five games if they’re to make the Final. Ashton Agar, Josh Inglis and Cameron Green haven’t played in the tournament so far, so expect the Aussies to try and find a way to get some of that trio into the side. Mitch Starc didn’t play against Namibia, so it is likely he will play against Scotland.
Australia annihilated Namibia on Wednesday morning, chasing down a target of 73 inside of 6 overs as Travis Head (34* off 17), David Warner (20 off 8) and Mitch Marsh (18* off 9) made light work of the Namibian bowlers.
The win was set up by the excellent work of the Australian bowlers, in particular Adam Zampa who continued his red hot tournament with 4/12. Zampa is now the equal second highest wicket taker in the tournament with 8 wickets at an average of 8 with an economy rate of just 5.33.
The Australian attack was ruthless with Marcus Stoinis (2/9), Josh Hazlewood (2/18), Nathan Ellis (1/12) and Pat Cummis (1/16) all contributing to the Namibian collapse. Australia have been the best bowling attack at the tournament so far, adjusting to the Caribbean conditions incredibly well.
Scotland
Predicted XI: George Munsey, Michael Jones, Brandon McMullen, Richie Berrington, Matthew Cross, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Chris Sole, Brad Wheal, Brad Currie
Scotland won’t be looking to change their eleven after an unbeaten start to the tournament, and a six day break since their last game against Oman. Scotland obliterated Oman in that game to give themselves a great opportunity to qualify for the Super Eights, chasing down 150 in 13.1 overs.
Brandon McMullen scored an unbeaten 61 off just 31 deliveries, while George Munsey scored 42 off 20 to get the Scots off to a flyer. England’s dominant win over Oman saw the defending champions overtake Scotland on net run rate, and given England will play against Namibia before this game, the net run rate equation won’t be in Scotland’s favour.
So the equation is simple, it’s win or go home for Scotland and they will be full of belief given what they’ve shown this tournament. Although their game against England was abandoned, they were by far the better side scoring 0/90 off 10 overs. Openers George Munsey and Michael Jones hold the key if they are going to upset Australia, and have gotten their side off to strong starts in nearly every game at the tournament.
Match Prediction
This will be a much tougher game for Australia than their matches against Oman and Namibia given not only the quality in the Scotland side, but what’s at stake for Scotland. They will come out all guns blazing with the bat to try and put the Aussies under pressure, who have nothing to gain from this match.
Darren Sammy Stadium has traditionally been a great batting surface for T20 cricket in comparison to other venues in the Caribbean, so the scores in this fixture will be more akin to what is expected in T20 cricket. Australia and Scotland have never met in a T20I fixture, but Australia are 5-0 against Scotland in ODI fixtures. This won’t be a walk in the park for the Aussies, but they’ll be too strong for Scotland in this clash. As expected when playing a side without Test status, there's not much value in the H2H markets, so the prop bet is where our attention goes to.
Adam Zampa continued his excellent run of form in the tournament continued, with figures of 2/24, 2/28 and 4/12 from his three games at the World Cup. Zampa has been the leading or equal leading wicket taker in four of Australia’s last five T20 international fixtures.
Adam Zampa Leading Australian Wicket Taker
$4 (1 Unit)
