Josh Hazlewood, the Australian fast bowler, has expressed his opinion that "it is in our best interest" if their long-time rivals and the current champions, England, were to be eliminated early from the T20 World Cup. He did not dismiss the possibility of exploiting the tournament's format to ensure this outcome.
Australia have already progressed to the 'Super 8s' round, having won all three of their matches in Group B. England, on the other hand, have only managed to secure a single point from their two games and must win their remaining matches to have any hope of advancing alongside Australia.
T20 WORLD CUP: Schedule Points Table
Currently, Scotland hold the second position in the group with five points and are poised to claim the other 'Super 8s' spot. Australia and Scotland, who have a significantly better net run-rate compared to England, are set to face each other on Sunday in St Lucia.
"In this tournament you potentially come up against England at some stage again and they're probably one of the top few teams on their day," said Hazlewood as the Aussies overwhelmed Namibia on Tuesday to win by nine wickets.
"We've had some real struggles against them in T20 cricket, so if we can get them out of the tournament that's in our best interest as well as probably everyone else. It'll be interesting to see. We've never really been in this position before as a team."
Hazlewood asserts that Australia are determined to achieve a clean-sweep victory in their group by triumphing over Scotland. However, the team may be enticed to assist the Scots in maintaining a better run rate compared to England.
"Whether you get close and you just knock it around and drag it out. There's a few options there," he added.
In their recent match in Barbados, Australia emerged victorious against England, securing a 36-run win. Prior to this encounter, the Australians had also triumphed over Oman at the same ground, winning by a margin of 39 runs.
Unfortunately, England's scheduled match against Scotland, which was also set to take place in Bridgetown, was called off due to unfavorable weather conditions.
Following the abandonment, Scotland went on to achieve resounding victories in their subsequent matches, comprehensively defeating both Namibia and Oman.
1/10:T20 World Cup: Australia demolish Namibia to march into Super Eights
Getty Images
2/10:Australia
<p>Australia marched into the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup with a nine-wicket demolition of Namibia at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. </p>AP
3/10:Adam Zampa
<p>Adam Zampa led the rout of an outclassed Namibia with figures of 4-12, becoming the first Australian man to reach 100 T20I wickets. </p>AFP
4/10:72 all out
<p>The southern Africans were bundled out for just 72 off 17 overs after batting first. </p>AP
5/10:Aussies romp to victory
<p>With victories under their belt over Oman and arch-rivals England, Australia then sped to the target in just 5.4 overs for the loss of one wicket. </p>AFP
6/10:Travis Head
<p>Travis Head finished unbeaten on 34 and captain Mitchell Marsh struck the winning boundary to be 18 not out. </p>AP
7/10:Aussie pacers
<p>Put in to bat in breezy, drizzly conditions, Namibia were first strangled by the 2021 champions' efficiency with their new-ball bowlers and some safe catching. </p>Getty Images
8/10:Zampa dents Namibia
<p>Zampa then took over, the leg-spinner ripping through the lower half of Namibia's demoralised batting line-up. </p>AP
9/10:100 T20I wickets
<p>Zampa's fourth wicket came off the last ball of his spell when he bowled Bernard Scholtz to reach his milestone of 100 wickets in the shortest format. </p>AFP
10/10:Gerhard Erasmus
<p>Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus, who needed 17 deliveries to get off the mark, top-scored with 36 off 43 balls before being ninth out. </p>AP"We take confidence from winning and winning well, I think that's almost more important than potentially trying to knock someone else out," said Hazlewood.
"They've still got a lot to do on their behalf as well, so I think it'll become clearer the closer we get to that sort of stuff."
England's upcoming matches in Antigua include a clash with Oman on Thursday, followed by an encounter against Namibia on Saturday.
In contrast, Australia and Scotland are scheduled to face each other on Sunday, after England's group-stage games have concluded.
(With AFP inputs)
