Oman

The 37-year-old will complete his stage-by-stage international retirement at the conclusion of the tournament, where Australia begin their campaign against Oman on Thursday.

The reigning Cricket World Cup winners and World Test champions, who will also play England, Scotland and Namibia in Group B, are aiming to complete the sweep of global international honours in the United States and West Indies.

Warner would be one of four players to have appeared in all three finals, along with Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Travis Head.

A steady and injury-hit Indian Premier League season with the Delhi Capitals - led by three-time World Cup winner Ponting - led to question marks over his selection for this competition.

But, to Ponting, Warner's inclusion was never in doubt, and he is backing Jake Fraser-McGurk - the winner of the IPL's 2024 Electric Striker of the Season award and a travelling reserve - to fill the void when he brings the curtain down on his international career. 

"He's the sort of character you want to have around your team, especially in big tournaments like World Cups," Ponting told ESPNcricinfo.

"He's just one of those natural winners. Everything he does, he wants to win. You can see that with his attitude in the field and the way he goes about his cricket.

"There's more than just the runs that we'll be missing when Warner finally is gone. But hopefully, the depth of Australian cricket is good enough to find someone to come in and fill that void."

"It's going to be a really big set of shoes to fill, there's no doubt about that. They have got a lot of depth there.

"I'd be very surprised if he [Fraser-McGurk] doesn't go straight into the T20 team when David's finally done. I was lucky enough to coach him at the Delhi Capitals this year as well. He's got extreme talent."

After their opening match against Scotland was rained off, defeat by Australia left the reigning champions requiring victories from their final two Group B outings - and a boosted net run-rate to keep their title defence alive.

Buttler's side were on a mission against Oman, who they dismissed for just 47 with 101 balls remaining - setting a new World Cup record in the process - before taking just 19 balls to successfully chase down that target.

England must now beat Namibia in their final group game on Saturday - while hoping Australia beat Scotland the following day - to book their place in the Super 8s.

"It was a really good performance," Buttler said. "We have had some really good training sessions and spoke about how we need to stay true to ourselves, and trust we have got really good players.

"We spoke about needing to win two games of cricket and, if we had the chance to affect the net run-rate, that would be important.

"The tone was set really well by the bowlers, and they managed to pick up those early wickets, restrict them, and knock them off.

"We told [the batters] then to be ultra-positive. We spoke in the lead-up to this. We have to win games and if we get a chance, we have to take advantage with the net run-rate.

"We have lots of confidence in our team, and we have another big game to come. We are still in the same position. We still have a must-win game on Saturday."

Matthew Mott's white-ball  were defeated by Australia on Saturday, with their 36-run loss leaving them staring at a group-stage elimination in their T20I title defence.

That result was compounded by Scotland's thrashing of Oman with 41 balls to spare as England suffered another blow to their hopes of progressing via net run-rate.

Another must-win match against Oman looms on Thursday, where England have to triumph before any other calculations of permutations can begin, says captain Buttler.

"I don't think it's s**t or bust quite yet," Buttler told reporters in Antigua. "I think it's quite clear what we need to do and how we need to play.

"First and foremost, we need to win the game against Oman to have any chance going forward into the next one.

"So we have to earn the right to try and win the game. And if we can get ourselves in a position to affect our net run-rate, obviously that's what we need to do."

England then face Namibia on Saturday to round off their group-stage campaign, though two victories for Buttler's side may still not be enough.

Scotland could still knock them out by beating Australia in their final match after England meet Namibia, when the Scots will have an advantage of a clear picture of what is required.

"We've looked at a few little bits but it's going to be ever-changing throughout the game," Buttler added.

"I don't think we need to consume too much energy today and tomorrow saying 'we need to score 'X' amount of runs or win by this much'. I think those kinds of things will develop on the day.

"That's the situation we find ourselves in, so we have to be aware of that, but not be consumed by that.

"If we try and do that bit first and forget about trying to win the game and lose, then you've got no chance anyway.

"So I'd rather have some kind of chance going into the last game, and know exactly what we need to."

England's white-ball struggles at the tournament have raised questions about Buttler's captaincy and coach Mott's tenure.

Buttler has no interest in the speculation surrounding his stewardship, however.

"I care more about the team than the media and the outside noise," he added. "That's always there, it's part of international sport. If you get to this level, you have to be able to deal with it, the job you guys do, that's the job TV does.

"It's probably harder to completely ignore it in this day and age, but there's a level of acceptance. Our focus has to be on what we can do with our performance.

"I've played the game long enough now to know that it's very good at building people up and pretty good at criticising when it doesn't go right, especially in England.

"I do the same thing when I'm watching a game of football or rugby – 'how's he missed that from there?' 'How did he miss from one-yard out', or 'someone's dropped the ball over the line'. Simple things like that.

"People care. That's why we're able to do what we do because people care and they want to watch. We're a proud team, we want to perform really well for all the fans.

"But to be honest, all the focus is on us and how well we can play. If we play as well as we can, we'll make our fans happy."

After a washout stopped their first game against Scotland, England lost to Australia and knew that a defeat on Thursday would see them knocked out of the World Cup.

Oman just could not get a foothold with only Shoaib Khan able to reach double figures with 11 as England put in a stellar bowling performance.

Adil Rashid was the standout with his 4-11, but Jofra Archer (3-12) and Mark Wood (3-12) helped to cap the performance as Oman were all out for 47 after 13.2 overs.

With a target of 48, England came out to bat on a mission, with Phil Salt hitting two sixes on the first two balls before being caught.

In the end, it would only take them 19 balls to hit their target, with captain Jos Buttler getting an impressive 24 off eight balls, though it was Jonny Bairstow who got the important four to take them to 50-2.

Data Debrief: England came out on a mission, and smashed it

Oman's tally of just 47 is the fourth-lowest total a team has managed in a T20 World Cup match, while it also proved to be England's best bowling performance in the competition.

With 101 balls remaining following England's successful chase, they set a new World Cup record.

Chasing 222 for victory the West Indies reached their target in the 40^th over. King scored an even 100 and Captain Shai Hope, an unbeaten 63 to secure their first win in the Super Six stage of the tournament.

With both teams already eliminated from contention from qualifying for the ICC World Cup in India later this year, the match was of academic interest.

However, the West Indies were looking to save face after losing to the Netherlands and Scotland in consecutive matches. After winning the toss, Hope asked Oman to take first strike.

The bulk of the scoring came from Suraj Kumar, whose unbeaten 53 and Shaoib Khan, an even 50, helped Oman to 221-9. Opener Kashyap Prajapati got 31 and Aayan Khan, 30, in the face of accurate bowling from Romario Shepherd who took 3-44 and Kyle Mayers 2-31 from seven overs.

Kevin Sinclair, who replaced the injured Yannic Cariah in the West Indies squad finished with 1-42.

With the West Indies looking for their first points of the Super Six stage, they Caribbean side lost Johnson Charles for four with only seven runs on the board.

However, Keacy Carty and King settled nerves with an 80-run second wicket partnership before the latter was run out for 29. From there the West Indies were cruising as King and Hope steered the West Indies to the brink of victory with a third-wicket partnership of 96 that was broken when King feathered a catch through to wicketkeeper Kumar off the bowling of Bilal Khan for 100.

His second ODI century came off 104 deliveries and included 15 sublime boundaries.

Hope and Nicholas Pooran scored the remaining runs without much bother with Hope scoring his 23^rd ODI 50 along the way. Pooran was unbeaten on 19 at the end.

The West Indies will play their final match of their failed campaign against Sri Lanka on Friday. Sri Lanka has already qualified for the ICC World Cup.

In the Oman innings, Starc began to limp after bowling the first delivery of the 15th over, handing the ball over to Glenn Maxwell before making his way off the field. 

Australia – who are looking to add the T20 crown to the 50-over World Cup they won in India last year – had been in a spot of bother early in their own innings, but Marcus Stoinis' unbeaten 67 helped them reach 164-5, which proved beyond Oman.

The victory takes Australia top of Group B after England's opener against Scotland was abandoned on Tuesday.

Australia face their old rivals in their second match of the tournament at the Kensington Oval on Saturday, and Marsh expects Starc to be fine for that contest. 

"Starcy was just cramp so we didn't want to take a chance," Marsh said. 

"When Starcy asks if he's okay to go off, you let him go off."

Reflecting on the victory – Australia's eighth in their last nine T20 World Cup matches – Marsh added: "It was a close game but it's good to get the win. It's not going to be the 200 types in this tournament. 

"We are kind of going back to the old T20 style here in this tournament. We might get few wickets that are good for batting but that's the old T20, right?

"Things may look a little different on these sorts of wickets, but I think that's exciting. We go on to England now and hopefully that'll be a good game with a good crowd."

Despite being bundled out for 109, Oman mounted a dramatic comeback with the ball, pushing the match into the Super Over. However, Namibia, led by the composed and experienced David Wiese, dominated the Super Over to secure a crucial victory.

This match marked only the third time a men's T20 World Cup game has gone to a Super Over and the first since 2012. Wiese and Gerhard Erasmus racked up an impressive 21 runs against the seasoned Bilal Khan. Wiese then ensured Oman couldn't pull off another comeback, limiting them to just 10 runs.

On a challenging pitch where runs were hard to come by, Wiese began the Super Over in style, drilling a full delivery through the covers and then smashing a full toss for a six wide of long-on. Erasmus continued the onslaught, flick-sweeping for a boundary and squeezing a yorker past short third to post the highest score in a T20 World Cup Super Over.

Wiese then took control with the ball, conceding just two runs off his first two deliveries before dismissing Naseem Khushi with an edge onto the stumps. Oman managed only a single off the next ball, making the target unreachable, and Wiese closed out the win, becoming only the fourth player in men's T20Is to bat and bowl in a Super Over.

Namibia’s modest chase was spearheaded by Jan Frylinck, who brought the equation down to 18 runs needed off the last three overs. Mehran Khan began the 18th over with four byes, then had JJ Smit caught at long-on and bowled three consecutive dots to Wiese.

In the final over, with Namibia needing just five runs, Mehran bowled Frylinck off his pads for a 48-ball 45. He then trapped new batter Zane Green lbw and kept the pressure on, allowing only two runs from Wiese and nearly securing victory for Oman.

Namibia’s decision to bowl first paid off when Ruben Trumpelmann trapped Kashyap Prajapati lbw on the first ball. Trumpelmann then dismissed Oman captain Aqib Ilyas with a searing inswinging yorker and struck again in his next over, reducing Oman to 10 for 3.

Zeeshan Maqsood attempted to rebuild with a flurry of boundaries but fell to Bernard Scholtz. Namibia’s spinners, Scholtz and Erasmus, then stifled Oman’s scoring, bowling 44 consecutive deliveries without conceding a boundary.

Oman managed a late surge, with Ayaan Khan attacking Scholtz for a six. However, tight bowling from Wiese and Trumpelmann restricted Oman, with the latter finishing with figures of 4-21.

Bilal Khan provided Oman an early breakthrough, but Namibia navigated the powerplay cautiously. The pressure from Oman's spinners, particularly Ilyas who bowled a maiden, slowed the scoring rate. Despite dropped catches, Jan Frylinck anchored Namibia’s innings, helping take the game to the last over.

Having come so close, Oman will rue their missed chances. Meanwhile, Namibia, buoyed by Wiese’s heroics, will look to build on this thrilling victory as they progress in the T20 World Cup.

Matthew Mott's side are on the brink of an early elimination this month, with their 20-over title defence seemingly crumbling without escaping the group stage.

England struggled before rain washed out their opener with Scotland, who are the favourites to progress after Australia overcame Buttler's side on Saturday.

The defending champions must beat Oman and Namibia, while needing Australia to overcome Scotland by a less-than-narrow margin to have any hopes of going through on net run-rate.

That has brought questions over Buttler's tenure as England captain, though Root placed his backing in the 33-year-old, a former international team-mate and good friend of his.

"Jos is one of my good friends," the England Test star said. "I think he's a brilliant captain, so I don't think there's any question.

"I think they'll be absolutely fine, they've got a wonderful squad of players. They know exactly what they need to do.

"When it's all laid out and they've got their backs to the wall, which they have in this situation now, is when they play their best cricket.

"It could really bring the best out of them, so I've got no worries whatsoever.

"If they go out and do what they all know that they're capable of doing, we'll be finding ourselves in the Super 8s and the back-end of the tournament where it really matters to play our best stuff."

England face Oman on Thursday before meeting Namibia on Saturday, when Scotland go against Australia later in the day, boasting the advantage of knowing what result is required to progress.

That is on the minds of Australian players, too, with bowler Josh Hazlewood weighing up the options of helping send England out of the competition.

England coach Mott hopes the Australia quick's comments were in jest, though matters could be out of his side's hands come the weekend in the United States and West Indies.

After a washout stopped their first game against Scotland, England lost to Australia and knew that a defeat on Thursday would see them knocked out of the World Cup.

Oman just could not get a foothold with only Shoaib Khan able to reach double figures with 11 as England put in a stellar bowling performance.

Adil Rashid was the standout with his 4-11, but Jofra Archer (3-12) and Mark Wood (3-12) helped to cap the performance as Oman were all out for 47 after 13.2 overs.

With a target of 48, England came out to bat on a mission, with Phil Salt hitting two sixes on the first two balls before being caught.

In the end, it would only take them 19 balls to hit their target, with captain Jos Buttler getting an impressive 24 off eight balls, though it was Jonny Bairstow who got the important four to take them to 50-2.

Data Debrief: England came out on a mission, and smashed it

Oman's tally of just 47 is the fourth-lowest total a team has managed in a T20 World Cup match, while it also proved to be England's best bowling performance in the competition.

With 101 balls remaining following England's successful chase, they set a new World Cup record.

Brandon McMullen hit an unbeaten 61 as Scotland needed just 13.1 overs to chase down their target of 151, the victory taking them top of Group B.

Safyaan Sharif had figures of 2-40 on his 200th international outing, bowling Aqib Ilyas lbw and having Mehran Khan caught as Oman finished 150-7.  

McMullen wasted no time in helping the Scots overhaul that figure, slamming his 61 runs off just 31 deliveries, hitting nine fours and two maximums.

After seeing their opening match against England rained off then beating Namibia on Thursday, Scotland sit top of their pool with seven points ahead of next week's clash with Australia.

A victory in that match will guarantee Scotland escape the group, while they could even advance with a defeat. England will need to win both of their matches and overhaul Scotland's strong run rate to progress. 

Data Debrief: McMullen leads the way

McMullen's score of 61 was his highest in a T20I since he managed 68 against Ireland in Edinburgh last June. 

He still trails team-mates Michael Jones (87) and George Munsey (89) in the total run-scoring charts at this World Cup, with only eight players bettering the latter's tally overall.

Mitchell Marsh's side, who are hoping to follow in England's footsteps by capturing both limited-overs world titles after winning the ODI crown last year, slipped to 50-3 when Glenn Maxwell fell for a golden duck.

However, Stoinis (67 not out) teamed up with David Warner (56) to put on a partnership of 102 as they reached 164-5.

Stoinis was dropped soon after coming in and Oman would regret missing that opportunity as he smashed two fours and six maximums off his 36 deliveries faced.

The all-rounder was equally impressive with the ball, posting figures of 3-19, including the vital wicket of Oman skipper Aqib Ilyas (18) six overs in. Ayaan Khan hit 36 for Oman but their challenge was as good as over when he was bowled by Adam Zampa for his 300th T20 wicket.

However, Australia's win did come with an injury scare as Mitchell Starc left the field during his final over with an apparent calf issue, just three days out from their meeting with England in Barbados. 

Data Debrief: Stoinis in exclusive club

Stoinis showed his talents as a true all-rounder on Wednesday, becoming just the third player to score 50 or more runs and take three or more wickets in a single T20 World Cup match, and the first since Shane Watson achieved the feat twice in 2012.

The team ranked sixth in the world were bowled out by Oman for 153 from the final ball of their innings, recording just eight wickets for 52 runs in the last seven overs.

Bangladesh had started well, with Mohammad Naim managing 64 runs from 50 balls and Shakib Al Hasan registering 42 from 29, but the team crumbled after the latter's exit.

Oman were unable to capitalise, however, collapsing late on themselves with five wickets from five overs and ending on 127-9, having been 81-2.

The day's early game saw Scotland survive a scare of their own to earn their second victory of the tournament and move within one win of qualifying for the Super 12s stage.

Scotland beat Papua New Guinea by 17 runs, making 165-9 as Richie Berrington hit a half-century that included three sixes – one being the longest of the tournament at 97metres – as well as six fours.

However, the 14th-ranked side in the world fell apart after he and Callum McLeod exited in the 19th over, seeing three wickets fall from the final three balls.

Papua New Guinea were bowled out for 148 in the last over, though, falling to their second defeat of the competition after losing to Oman in their opening match.

A Scotland victory appeared extremely unlikely when they were reduced to 53-6 having been put into bat in Muscat.

However, Greaves' 28-ball 45 helped Scotland rebuild their innings, as they reached 140-9, in an innings that saw Shakib Al Hasan become the leading wicket-taker in T20 internationals, with two dismissals taking him to 108.

And Greaves was similarly key with ball in hand, his 2-19 comprising the key wickets of Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim.

Greaves broke up that duo's 47-run third-wicket partnership by removing Shakib for 20 and then benefited as Mushfiqur misjudged a scoop on 38 and lost his leg stump.

Brad Wheal (3-24) took a starring role from there, dismissing Nural Hasan (2) and Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah (23) in the space of four 19th-over deliveries.

Bangladesh were left needing 24 off the last over and that proved too steep a challenge as Scotland prevailed by six runs.

The day's earlier Group B game saw Oman cruise to a 10-wicket win over Papua New Guinea thanks in part to Jatinder Singh's 73.

In the wake of the discovery of the new Omicron Covid variant, more severe global restrictions against travellers from a number of African countries, including Zimbabwe, forced the ICC to abandon the tournament prematurely and to send competing teams home as quickly as possible.

The West Indies squad was flown to Oman by an ICC private charter, with a short stopover in Namibia, along with eight other international squads. Oman was used as a staging area for the West Indies Women’s squad while they awaited an available route home.

“We are pleased to confirm that the West Indies Women’s squad will soon be making their way back home. We want to thank them for their patience and understanding as we worked with our counterparts at the ICC and Oman Cricket to facilitate their return at the earliest opportunity,” said CWI CEO Johnny Grave.

“We want to express our appreciation to the ICC, Oman Cricket and our operations team, who have worked tirelessly to ensure everyone was comfortable and remained safe.”

Meanwhile, Head Coach Courtney Walsh the players and coaching staff are relieved to be heading home after enduring challenging times in quarantine.

“The team is relieved by the good news that we will be home with our families before Christmas. The sudden cancellation of the Qualifiers and transition period in Oman has been mentally taxing on the entire team, both for the players and management staff,” Walsh said.

“As a management group, we tried to ensure that the players remained in a positive frame of mind. Our Strength and Conditioning Coach created a fitness challenge for all of us to participate in for the duration of the quarantine period, as it was something to take our minds off what was happening. I must say thanks to our Team Manager, the ICC and Oman Cricket, for all their logistical work, in ensuring we’re on our way home as quickly as possible.”

The players and team management are expected to arrive at their various West Indian home territories over the course of the next few days.

Following the termination of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers, ICC announced that the West Indies Women along with Pakistan Women and Bangladesh Women secured the final three qualification spots for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup by virtue of the existing ICC Women’s ODI rankings. The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup will be played in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3, 2022.