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Al Amerat, Oct 20 (IANS) Former Scotland captain Preston Mommsen reckons that powerplay will be the key for Scotland ahead of their final match in Round 1 against Oman in the ICC men's T20 World Cup. In the Group A standings, Scotland sit on top of the table with four points and need to win against Oman on Thursday to confirm their progress to the Super 12 stage of the tournament.
"Against Oman the key will be the powerplay, both with bat and ball. Bilal Khan has shown why he is regarded as one of, if not the best fast bowler in Associate cricket and Oman's strength looks to be the pace bowling, especially under lights. Generally, I think you need to be aggressive in the powerplay, but against Oman, it may be a case of keeping wickets in hand and looking to take on the spinners," wrote Mommsen in his column for the ICC on Wednesday.
Mommsen pointed out that Scotland needed to dismiss Oman's opening pair of Jatinder Singh and Aaqib Ilyas early. "Then with the ball, Oman have dangerous batters at the top of the order with Aqib Ilyas and Jatinder Singh, so taking early wickets will be key. If Scotland can do that, I think it could be quite comfortable, if not it will be another tough evening."
"There is frustration for Scotland that despite their historic win over Bangladesh, they still find themselves going into the final match against Oman in a must-win situation. Having said that, coming into the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021, Scotland would have expected to go into their game against Oman needing a win, so it will not come as a huge surprise."
Mommsen, currently commentating on Scotland's matches in the tournament, termed the side's six-run win over Bangladesh on Sunday as 'monumental'. "It was a monumental night when they beat Bangladesh on Sunday, both in terms of the outcome and the manner. Scotland were going up against a team with so much experience, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan had almost 300 T20I caps between them."
"So, it was some performance, particularly after they were reduced to 53 for six. Most people would have written them off at that stage but Mark Watt and Chris Greaves were unflustered and unfazed by the situation, sticking to the game plan to be aggressive. Scotland carried the momentum of their batting into the bowling, and there is a lot more depth in the attack now with Brad Wheal and Josh Davey bringing the fight they showed with their respective counties into the World Cup."
"The spinners then strangled Bangladesh, with Greaves backing up his performance with the bat with the key wickets of Shakib and Mushfiqur. He should be really proud of his performance, as the whole team should be. It was an historic performance, up there with the win over England at the Grange in 2018 and now it is important to back it up and reach the Super 12s. They did the job against Papua New Guinea but might look back and think they could have killed the game off sooner."
--IANS
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