Pat Cummins: Net Run-Rate Won't Affect Australia's Aggression

Pat Cummins firmly stated that Australia never contemplated manipulating their upcoming T20 World Cup match against Scotland to impact England’s chances of advancing. Before their decisive victory over Oman on Thursday, England faced a challenging path to qualify for the Super 8s due to their significantly inferior net run-rate compared to Scotland. Australian seamer Josh Hazlewood had hinted at making it tough for England but Cummins clarified that Hazlewood’s remarks were in jest. “After England overturned their net run-rate deficit against Oman, I spoke with Joshy, who had joked about it the other day. It seems his comments were taken a bit out of context,” Cummins explained.

“Our focus remains solely on facing Scotland, who have had an impressive tournament so far and will pose a tough challenge.” While acknowledging the importance of net run-rate in tournament scenarios, Pat Cummins emphasized that it does not alter Australia’s approach to the game. “It’s something we discuss as part of the tournament dynamics, but it doesn’t change our playing style,” Cummins affirmed. “Every time we step onto the field, our mindset is to play aggressively and take the game on, as the team has done so far.” Although net run-rate is now less of a concern for England, they still need to defeat Namibia in Antigua on Saturday (18:00 BST) to maintain their chances of advancing.

To progress to the Super 8s, England also need Australia to defeat Scotland in St Lucia on Sunday (01:30 BST). A win for Scotland or a washed-out game would secure their place in the Super 8s. A scenario in which England could narrowly win and Scotland could lose, yet still progress based on net run-rate which calculates as an average across all matches.