It’s out of England’s hands – after one bad day

The best that can be said for England’s defence of their T20 crown so far is that they remain in the contest. A washout against Scotland and a heavy defeat by Australia has left them teetering, though, and has brought back uncomfortable memories of their limp 50-over World Cup defence in India before Christmas.

After that dismal showing, a failure to qualify for the super eights here would put Matthew Mott’s position, in particular, under heavy scrutiny — coaches being always more expendable than captains. England judge themselves, in white-ball cricket, on their performances in ICC global events, rather than bilateral series, and as a well-resourced team they operate under high expectations.

So, a vital few days lie ahead. England play Oman on Thursday and