T20 World Cup 2024, Group B: How England, Australia, Namibia, Oman and Scotland have fared in showpiece event

With the 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) set to conclude in a day’s time, it’s only a matter of time before we shift our attention to the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by West Indies and USA.

The ninth edition of ICC’s flagship T20 event will feature 20 teams divided into four groups of five, with Associate nations such as Uganda and Papua New Guinea among those making the cut, the former doing so at Zimbabwe’s expense.

Group B comprises old rivals England and Australia who also happen to be the winners of the last two editions of the T20 World Cup, with the Jos Buttler-led Englishmen the current title holders after having beaten the Pakistan in the 2022 final in Melbourne.

The Ashes rivals are expected to breeze through to the next stage, i.e. the Super Eights as the remaining sides — Namibia, Oman and Scotland — unlikely to secure a top-two finish at the expensive of one of the two heavyweights even if they do put up a spirited challenge.

Namibia and Oman will be the first teams in action from the group, locking horns in Bridgetown on 3 June while England square off against their neighbours to the north Scotland the following day. The Australian team begins its campaign on Thursday, 6 June, against Oman.

With less than a week to go for the start of the 2024 T20 World Cup, we take how the four teams in Group B have fared in the tournament over the years:

Australia

World Ranking: 2

Captain: Mitchell Marsh

Coach: Andrew McDonald

Top scorer in T20Is: Aaron Finch (3,120 runs)

Top wicket-taker in T20Is: Adam Zampa (92 wickets)

T20 World Cup history

2007: Semi-finals

2009: Group Stage

2010: Runners-up

2012: Semi-finals

2014: Super 10s

2016: Super 10s

2021: Champions

2022: Super 12s

Squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner, Adam Zampa.

Schedule

vs Oman on 6 June at 6 am IST at Kensington Oval, Barbados

vs England on 8 June at 10.30 pm IST at Kensington Oval, Barbados

vs Namibia on 12 June at 6 am IST at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

vs Scotland on 16 June at 6 am IST at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

England

World Ranking: 3

Captain: Jos Buttler

Coach: Matthew Mott

Top scorer in T20Is: Jos Buttler (2,927 runs)

Top wicket-taker in T20Is: Adil Rashid (107 wickets)

T20 World Cup history

2007: Super 8s

2009: Super 8s

2010: Champions

2012: Super 8s

2014: Super 10s

2016: Runners-up

2021: Semi-finals

2022: Champions

Squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood

Schedule

vs Scotland on 4 June at 8 pm IST at Kensington Oval, Barbados

vs Australia on 8 June at 10.30 pm IST at Kensington Oval, Barbados

vs Oman on 14 June at 12.30 am IST at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

vs Namibia on 16 June at 10.30 pm IST at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

Namibia

World Ranking: 14

Captain: Gerhard Erasmus

Coach: Pierre de Bruyn

Top scorer in T20Is: Gerhard Erasmus (1,339 runs)

Top wicket-taker in T20Is: Bernard Scholtz (64 wickets)

T20 World Cup history

2007: Did Not Qualify

2009: Did Not Qualify

2010: Did Not Qualify

2012: Did Not Qualify

2014: Did Not Qualify

2016: Did Not Qualify

2021: Super 12s

2022: Group Stage

Squad: Gerhard Erasmus (c), Zane Green, Michael Van Lingen, Dylan Leicher, Ruben Trumpelmann, Jack Brassell, Ben Shikongo, Tangeni Lungameni, Niko Davin, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, JP Kotze, David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Malan Kruger and PD Blignaut.

Schedule

vs Oman on 3 June at 6 am IST at Kensington Oval, Barbados

vs Scotland on 7 June at 12.30 am IST at Kensington Oval, Barbados

vs Australia on 12 June at 6 am IST at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

vs England on 15 June at 10.30 pm IST at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

Oman

World Ranking: 18

Captain: Aqib Ilyas

Coach: Duleep Mendis

Top scorer in T20Is: Zeeshan Maqsood (1,295 runs)

Top wicket-taker in T20Is: Bilal Khan (106 wickets)

T20 World Cup history

2007: Did Not Qualify

2009: Did Not Qualify

2010: Did Not Qualify

2012: Did Not Qualify

2014: Did Not Qualify

2016: Group Stage

2021: Group Stage

2022: Did Not Qualify

Squad: Aqib Ilyas (c), Zeeshan Maqsood, Kashyap Prajapati, Pratik Athavale (wk), Ayaan Khan, Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Naseem Khushi (wk), Mehran Khan, Bilal Khan, Rafiullah, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt, Shakeel Ahmad.

Schedule

vs Namibia on 3 June at 6 am IST at Kensington Oval, Barbados

vs Australia on 6 June at 6 am IST at Kensington Oval, Barbados

vs Scotland on 9 June at 10.30 pm IST at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

vs England on 14 June at 12.30 am IST at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

Scotland

World Ranking: 13

Captain: Richie Berrington

Coach: Doug Watson

Top scorer in T20Is: Richie Berrington (2,092 runs)

Top wicket-taker in T20Is: Mark Watt (77 wickets)

T20 World Cup history

2007: Group Stage

2009: Group Stage

2010: Did Not Qualify

2012: Did Not Qualify

2014: Did Not Qualify

2016: Group Stage

2021: Super 12s

2022: Group Stage

Squad: Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Brad Currie, Chris Greaves, Oli Hairs, Jack Jarvis, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Charlie Tear, Mark Watt and Brad Wheal.

Schedule

vs England on 4 June at 8 pm IST at Kensington Oval, Barbados

vs Namibia on 7 June at 12.30 am IST at Kensington Oval, Barbados

vs Oman on 9 June at 10.30 pm IST at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

vs Scotland on 16 June at 6 am IST at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia