It is in our best interest to knock England out of the tournament: Australia's Josh Hazlewood with stunning claim amidst T20 World Cup 2024
Veteran Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood knows that England's hopes of qualifying for the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup depend massively on the result of their game against Scotland. Hazlewood didn't rule out the possibility of Australia ensuring they play Scotland in such a way that knocks England out of the tournament.
England have just one point on the board, but with games against Oman and Namibia left, they could fancy their chances of getting the four points and being on level terms with Scotland. However, they will need to have a better net run rate than Scotland's even if the Scots lose to the Aussies.
Speaking to the reporters after the win over Namibia, Josh Hazlewood spoke about the threat that England possess if they qualify for the latter stages and how the defending champions getting knocked out works well for the other teams.
"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. 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," he said.
Hazelwood has claimed that nothing has been spoken yet about how they would approach the Scotland game.
Tim Paine wants Australia to knock England out of T20 World Cup
Former Australian skipper Tim Paine was in on the idea of Australia deliberately knocking Egland out of the T20 World Cup.
He explained that while he wouldn't want the Aussies to lose to Scotland, they could approach the chase in a way that doesn't dent Scotland's run rate to an extent where it goes below England if the two teams are level on five points.
"I think you can still chase the score late and get England out. it's not just because it is England. We are trying to win a World Cup. Who is likely to pose a threat in the latter rounds? It is England. If you have a chance to knock out one of the fancied teams in the tournament, do it in a way that's not bad by deliberately losing a game. I am all for it," Paine told SEN Cricket.
The Aussies have qualified for the Super 8 stage with three wins from their three games and could afford to rest a few of their main players against Scotland on June 16.