T20 World Cup 2021: Preview of Qualifying round Group B teams - Scotland, Oman and Papua New Guinea

The Group B of the qualifying round of the T20 World Cup 2021 will see Bangladesh taking on Scotland, Oman, and Papua New Guinea. Given their inconsistency in the shortest format, Bangladesh will have a tough challenge against the three teams who are coming into this tournament on the back of strongly fought matches. In this piece, we will talk about the objectives of these three teams and their key outlook heading into this world event.

Scotland

The Scottish team has been on the rise in Europe, in terms of ability, experience, and expertise. Some may feel that with the talent they have, they should have finished higher than fifth in the T20 World Cup qualifiers in 2019. But, the fact they have qualified is what should matter to them. But, what that has done is now presented them with a slightly better chance of qualifying for the main round. 

In Group B, they have Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, and Oman, and given the talent in their squad, they should fancy themselves finishing at least second. Players like George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer, Calum Macleod, Richie Berrington, and Matt Cross make up a good unit that has had enough games of T20 in the past few years to understand the ins and outs. The only challenge they might face is the conditions, which may be quite different than what they are used to. 

Probable finish: 2nd in Group B, qualification to the main round but not further

Oman

2021 will be remembered as a historic moment in Oman cricket’s books. It marks their first chance at hosting an ICC event. The fact that they are playing on their home turf might bring out the best in them. This unit which Oman possesses understands the conditions well and might use them to their advantage but they will be up against two teams that are invariably better on paper and preparations from them. 

However, they have been one of the Asian teams on the rise. This is the second T20 World Cup in which they would be appearing after making an appearance in the 2016 edition. They had surprised Ireland by beating them in one of the games during that edition, which should be enough to make the Omani fans more optimistic. In addition to this, if they manage to qualify, it would be a huge boost for the cricket in their country, given it would be done on home soil. So far, they have lost one and won one in the warm-up matches. 

Probable finish: 3rd in Group B, but don’t be surprised if they beat Scotland and make it through. 

Papua New Guinea

Also known as PNG, the side under the leadership of Assad Vala is one of the teams to watch out for. Mainly because there is a sort of mystery around their team. They played out of their skin to end up in the final of the T20 World Cup qualifiers which was played in 2019. In the same tournament, they topped their group which consisted of Scotland, Netherlands, and Namibia. 

Without a doubt, they have the most exotic jersey among all the teams in this tournament and fans would be overjoyed to watch them field as a unit, something which they did pretty well during the Qualifiers. One may be naive to not recognize their talent, but it is hard to see how they could make it to the round. Nevertheless, the fact that they have made it thus far, would give the sport a great boost back home. 

Probable finish: 4th in Group B; might go home with a win.