Resurrected England eye another win

England can't afford to drop any points against Namibia in their final Group B game of the ongoing T20 World Cup on Saturday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua if they are to keep themselves alive in the Super 8 race.

The Jos Buttler-led side thrashed Oman in their last match on Thursday and will be full of confidence in getting the job done against Namibia but they can't relax or be complacent.

Even though a defeat against ICC associates member Namibia – nine places below fourth-placed England in T20I rankings – looks a bit unlikely, Buttler's men will be wary of their opponents as a loss in today's game will mean an automatic exit for the defending champions. 

After a no-result in their opening match against Scotland and a heavy defeat to Australia in the second game, England found themselves in a 'must-win by a big margin' situation against minnows Oman.

Fortunately for the Three Lions, Adil Rashid (4/11), Jofra Archer (3/12) and Mark Wood (3/12) stepped up in a big way, sharing the wickets to bowl their opponents out for 47 runs in only 13.2 overs before Buttler scored a quickfire 24 off eight balls to lead the side to victory in just 3.1 overs, giving their net run rate a massive boost from -1.800 to +3.081, significantly above Scotland's +2.164.

A victory this weekend for England will see them draw level on five points with the Scots, who face Australia on Sunday. As long as England don't slip against Namibia and Australia do what is expected of them – which is to beat Scotland – England can hope for smooth sailing to the Super Eight. 

What would also come as a relief to Buttler and Co is that Australia skipper Pat Cummins ruled out Thursday the prospect of Australia underperforming against Scotland in a bid to oust rivals England from the Twenty20 World Cup, saying it would be against the "spirit of cricket." 

Josh Hazlewood caused controversy this week when he said it would be in Australia's interests for reigning champions England to be out of the competition.

England coach Matt Mott -- an Australian -- said he hoped Hazlewood was joking and Australia's Test and one-day skipper Cummins assured him that the bowler was.
"I don't think you can (go into a game not trying to win) -- ever," Cummins said.