NEW DELHI:
England
revived their
T20 World Cup
campaign with a record-breaking victory over
Oman
by eight wickets in Antigua on Thursday.
The reigning champions needed a significant win to improve their net run-rate (NRR) as they strive to surpass
Scotland
and qualify for the second-round Super Eights.
Oman was dismissed for a mere 47 runs, unable to cope with England's combination of spin and pace.
Leg-break bowler
Adil Rashid
took 4-11 from his four overs, while fast bowlers
Jofra Archer
and
Mark Wood
both had figures of 3-12 in an innings that concluded nearly seven overs early.
Shoaib Khan (11) was the only Oman batsman to reach double digits after Buttler won the toss.
England then reached the target of 50-2 in just 3.1 overs, with captain
Jos Buttler
unbeaten on 24 and Jonny Bairstow hitting the winning boundary to remain unbeaten on eight.
This overwhelming Group B victory meant England recorded 'the largest win in T20 World Cup history in terms of balls remaining'.
According to AFP, England's NRR climbed to 3.081, surpassing Scotland's 2.16. However, England remained third on three points, behind Scotland's five.
Oman, who lost all four of their games, narrowly avoided the record lowest completed total of 39 at any T20 World Cup, set by Uganda against co-hosts West Indies in Guyana last week.
Archer did the early damage with 2-12 in nine balls, and Oman lost two more wickets in Wood's first over, slumping to 25-4 in six overs.
Wicketkeeper Buttler removed the bails at the second attempt to stump Khalid Kail off Rashid's first ball as wickets continued to fall.
In England's chase, Phil Salt struck the first two balls for six but was bowled off the third by Bilal Khan.
England, who lost to Australia after their group game with Scotland was abandoned due to rain, will play Namibia on Saturday, while Australia and Scotland will meet on Sunday after England have completed their group games.
English (US) ·