"Guys were booking, cancelling flights...": Maxwell opens up about anxious England camp during tight Australia vs Scotland game

England managed to qualify for Super 8s because they had superior net run rate than Scotland.

By Salman Anjum - 19 Jun, 2024

Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell narrated a fascinating anecdote ahead of his team's T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 match against Bangladesh.

Maxwell revealed that English players were anxiously waiting for the result in their dressing room during Australia’s final group-stage match against Scotland.

Notably, the defending champions were dependent on the outcome of that game to qualify for the Super 8 round.

Maxwell said that some players from England, whose qualification to the next round was dependent on their arch-rivals' win over Scotland, were panicking in their dressing room, booking and cancelling their flights while the match went down the wire.

The 2021 champions, who topped Group B with four out of four wins, will face Bangladesh on Friday (June 21) in Antigua. Australia's victory against Scotland played a critical role in England's progression to the Super 8s.

Scotland finished third in the group with two wins, a loss, a no result, and five points. England managed to qualify with the same number of points on the basis of a superior net run rate.

Speaking on ESPN's 'Around the Wicket' programme, Maxwell said, "There was almost this interesting part where they dropped Tim David's catch when there were three runs required off three balls. When it gets down to the last two-three balls, who knows what is going to happen? Luckily enough, we got over the line and luckily enough, they got through. But I heard it was absolutely chaos. They were in the hotel and there was a fair bit of panic. Guys were booking flights and cancelling etc. It would have been fun being a fly on the wall watching that."

Maxwell also claimed that he received several messages from members of the England team before the game, saying, "Yeah, just a couple of texts here and there (from England players). It was actually quite funny. There was a lot of chat out in the ground like 'Are we doing this? Are we seriously going to let England back in?' It was a pretty interesting game."

It is worth mentioning here that Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood had create quite a stir in the cricket fraternity with his comments in the pre-match presser, stating that it would be in everyone's best interests if England are knocked out of the tournament early.

"In this tournament, you potentially come up against England at some stage again and...they are probably one of the top few teams on their day and we have 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," Hazlewood had told reporters.

(With ANI Inputs)

By Salman Anjum - 19 Jun, 2024

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