Advantage England? Why playing last is a ‘bit of a benefit’ over Australia
Should the final round of games all see the teams ranked higher in the MRF ICC Men’s T20 Team Rankings beat their lower-ranked opponents, then New Zealand, England and Australia would all finish Group 1 tied on seven points.
That would see the top two decided on Net Run Rate.
New Zealand currently lead the group on that stat thanks to their huge margin of victory in the opening match, while England have a significant but not insurmountable advantage over Australia in the Net RR column.
England show class against New Zealand | Digital Daily: Episode 33 | T20WC 2022
Where Jos Buttler and his side may have an advantage is in the fixture schedule, which sees their game against Sri Lanka on Saturday come a day after New Zealand and Australia have completed their final group matches.
So England will go into their last game knowing exactly what they require to qualify – be that solely a win, or a win by a certain margin.
“There is a little bit of a benefit obviously playing that last game to know exactly what is required of us,” Buttler said, after his 73 helped England to a crucial win over New Zealand on Tuesday. “We've just got to wait and see exactly what happens.
“We're going to expect a really tough match against Sri Lanka, a really good team. Every game is tough in this tournament.
“But, yeah, to know exactly what we'll need to do to try and get through will obviously be a bit beneficial.”
England see off New Zealand and keep semi-final hopes alive | Match Highlights | T20WC 2022
Match highlights of England holding off New Zealand for a 20-run victory that kept their hopes of making the semi-finals of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 alive.
England opted to bat first against New Zealand in Brisbane and set the group leaders a challenging 180 to win, thanks in large part to half-centuries from Buttler and his opening partner Alex Hales.
“We're a really dangerous team, we've got match-winners throughout,” the skipper said. “Having not quite sort of played our best, we were desperate to show that today.
“I thought we put in a very good performance. Any time you take on New Zealand, you know you're up for a really tough challenge.
“I'm really proud of the guys tonight in a must-win game to come out and play with freedom and express ourselves and show off our talent. I was really proud of the character we showed.”
Brilliant Buttler sets up England win with half-century | POTM Highlights | T20WC 2022
Jos Buttler scored a 47-ball 73 to help set up England's 20-run win against New Zealand in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 and bagged the POTM award.
England’s final game will be played at the SCG in Sydney, a ground that has hosted the two 200+ scores of the tournament so far - by New Zealand against Australia and South Africa against Bangladesh.
And a similar quality of surface would play into the hands of an England side with a hugely powerful batting line-up.
Yet simply being able to travel to Sydney with qualification still in England’s hands is the major boost for Buttler’s morale.
“I think it's a big relief to be heading to that last game knowing we have a chance at progressing,” Buttler said. “It would be a tough flight tomorrow if we'd lost tonight especially.
“So, yeah, we go there really excited. I think the team is in a really good place after tonight.
“Again, it showed great character in a must-win match. We'll head to Sydney full of confidence and expecting a really tough game against Sri Lanka.”