Inspirational Oman skipper labels 'big-hitting' Aussies vulnerable

Oman's cancer-surviving captain has declared Australia vulnerable against spin and preoccupied with six-hitting, boldly suggesting unpredictable weather and a worn wicket square gives them a shot at pulling off the T20 World Cup's first upset.

Travis Head admitted on match eve he knows little about the ICC's 19th-ranked T20I team, who have next to no experience playing against major Test nations and are featuring in the main stage of a World Cup for the first time.

On the eve of the Aussies tournament opener, Scotland were on the brink of upstaging England at Barbados' Kensington Oval, the venue for Group B's first five matches, in an on-again-off-again rain-marred match before an afternoon downpour put paid to their hopes of defending 109 in 10 overs.

That was played on the same pitch as the one used for Namibia's Super Over-decided win over Oman, but a fresh surface was expected to be prepared for Australia's tournament opener on Wednesday night (10.30am Thursday AEST).

Oman skipper Aqib Ilyas has implored his side not to be overawed by the litany of stars at Australia's disposal and the 31-year-old has overcome far greater challenges than a squad of multi-time World Cup winners.

Ilyas told Oman coach Duleep Mendis, the former Sri Lanka batter, his cricket career was over when he found a cancerous tumour in his left ankle in 2021. Oman Cricket flew him to Lahore to operate and he eventually recovered after being unable to walk for eight months.

Now his team's captain for one of Oman's biggest ever matches, Ilyas believes his team can do what Papua New Guinea threatened to against West Indies this week on a slow pitch in Guyana.

While emphasising his respect for the “Australian mindset” and their pedigree of performing at major events, the Pakistan-born, Muscat-raised allrounder who bowls both leg- and off-spin says a combination of the island's fickle wet-season squalls and uncertainty over a surprisingly dry pitch block will play in their favour.

"With the Australian team, they used to have a few players with good techniques in the past like Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. But I don't think they have many now. They look to hit big. They only try to go for sixes," Ilyas told reporters.

"But every day is not the same day, and if we get the same wicket (as the one against Namibia) maybe it could be a problem for them.

"Just like the way you saw how difficult it was for the West Indies against PNG. They struggled to chase 130-odd despite them having some of the biggest hitters in the side.

"On a slower track with good quality spinners, the only thing we need to do is play with a big heart and put the ball in the right areas, because the ball doesn't know how big (a reputation) the batter (has). If it turns a bit or it stays low, the batter is in trouble."

Australia's only chance to train at Kensington Oval was scuppered on Tuesday after the afternoon downpour that washed out the England-Scotland game also rendered the practice pitches unusable.

There was also no opportunity to inspect the playing surface given the entire pitch block remained under covers all through Tuesday afternoon.

The merit of picking Ashton Agar over one of their fast bowlers will be debated by selectors, who are wary of managing Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins after the pair were late arrivals into the camp following the IPL and both endured 50-plus hours of flying to get from Sydney to Barbados.

All but four of the Aussie squad are coming off varying degrees of involvement in an IPL campaign defined by easy-paced pitches and monster scores. They are now bracing for trickier conditions in the Caribbean.

Pitches for their training sessions at Three Ws Oval and the Windward Cricket Club have been as slow as the island's pace of life. The sounds of stumps getting rattled and big hits being chunked skyward have been frequent as their powerful batters acclimatise.

Head hit the ball as cleanly as any of them during his sole training run since linking up with Australia's squad, having come fresh off a dominant IPL campaign, albeit one that ended up with him being dismissed for ducks in three of his final four innings.

The elevation of his T20 strike-rate against spin from 113.64 before the tournament to 164.52 during it underscored the work he has put in to improve an aspect of his game that was the reason behind his omission for Australia's first Test against India last year.

With Ilyas revealing there would be no changes to the bowling line-up Oman unveiled against Namibia that featured four spinners, Head is certain to be challenged to show he can replicate those improvements.

"It was something throughout training in India I had in the back of my mind," said the opener. "It's going to be challenging throughout the tournament but the successes I was able to have through some part of the (IPL) with what I worked on was nice."

But Head suggested his research on Oman's unknown bowlers would be limited to a brief viewing of footage compiled by the team's analyst followed by a more focused peek during their pre-match warm-ups.

"My (pre-game analysis) is pretty relaxed," he said. "At some stage over the next day or maybe tonight, I'll have a quick look at some of the guys.

"We get heaps of footage but for me personally I’ll probably just watch a bit in the warm-up, try to get a rough idea on who's who. A bit like (what he did) in India (at the IPL) as well, watch them bowl through … and then stay pretty calm and relaxed."

Ilyas, who hinted there could be at least one change to their batting group that managed only 109 against Namibia, has urged his side to view the match as an opportunity for his players to put their names up in lights.

"The boys are really pumped up," he said. "When you come up against the top sides, that is when you get highlighted all over the world. The boys have a lot of opportunity.

"The thing is we don't have much to lose. Every time there is a World Cup, there is an upset … the weather, how it is behaving, anything can happen.

"We respect them a lot as a team … but before the game, it's important to not get overawed by them.

"After the game, of course there are great players in their side and we can learn a lot from them. But maybe even they might be able to learn something from us."

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Australia's squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Australia's Group B fixtures

June 6: v Oman, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 10.30am AEST

June 9: v England, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 3am AEST

June 12: v Namibia, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, 10.30am AEST

June 16: v Scotland, Daren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia, 10.30am AEST

Super Eights, finals to follow if Australia qualify

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