T20 World Cup: Group B preview including key batters & bowlers

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The ninth edition of the Men's T20 World Cup is now just days away.

BBC Sport has partnered with data analysts CricViz to preview each of the 20 sides in the initial group stage.

We have split each of the four groups into its own preview and looked at how each side is shaping up before the tournament while CricViz have picked out a key batter and bowler.

This is Group B, which features Australia, England, Namibia, Oman and Scotland.

Australia

ICC T20 world ranking: Second

T20 World Cup appearances: Eight

Best T20 World Cup performance: Winners (2021)

Captain: Mitchell Marsh

Head coach: Andrew McDonald

Form (most recent last): LWWWW

Group fixtures (all times BST): Oman (6 June, 01:30), England (8 June, 18:00), Namibia (12 June, 01:30) and Scotland (16 June, 01:30)

Batter to watch: Travis Head

Hot off a match-winning performance in the 50-over World Cup final and a scintillating reintroduction into the Indian Premier League (IPL), including a 39-ball hundred, Head is fast becoming the key man for an Australia side searching for white-ball World Cup supremacy.

Across this World Cup cycle he has scored his runs at a strike-rate of more than of 175.

He demolishes pace bowling in particular, averaging more than 50 at a strike-rate above 190 since the last World Cup.

Bowler to watch: Mitchell Starc

Record-breaking Starc recently became the most expensive player in the IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders spending about £2.3m to secure his services.

He is a powerplay specialist who will look to blast top-order batters away with fast-swinging deliveries then crush their toes in the death overs with fast yorkers.

Starc is Australia's leading wicket taker in T20 World Cups, with 27 wickets in 20 matches.

England

ICC T20 world ranking: Third

T20 World Cup appearances: Eight

Best T20 World Cup performance: Winners (2010 & 2022)

Captain: Jos Buttler

Head coach: Matthew Mott

Form (most recent last): LWWLW

Group fixtures (all times BST): Scotland (4 June, 15:30), Australia (8 June, 18:00), Oman (13 June, 20:00) & Namibia (15 June, 18:00)

Batter to watch: Jos Buttler

The right-hander has continued to show his supreme value as a T20 batter in the recent IPL, where he struck two hundreds for Rajasthan on their way to reaching the play-offs.

No player in the world has more T20 runs than Buttler since the start of 2023, with the England captain passing 50 on 22 occasions.

His game at the moment possesses no weaknesses as he averages more than 30 and strikes well above 130 against all bowler types.

Bowler to watch: Adil Rashid

England’s most successful limited-overs spinner may be 36, but he is showing no signs of slowing down.

He is England’s leading T20 wicket-taker in this World Cup cycle and will be relishing the chance to bowl in the Caribbean.

Across his career, of the nine countries where he has played five or more T20s, his figures stack up best in the Caribbean.

With 21 wickets at an average of fewer than 14 and an economy rate fewer than six an over, he should be productive in conditions that have proved helpful to him .

Namibia

ICC T20 world ranking: 14th

T20 World Cup appearances: Two

Best T20 World Cup performance: Round two (2021)

Captain: Gerhard Erasmus

Head coach: Pierre de Bruyn

Form (most recent last): LLWWW

Group fixtures (all times BST): Oman (3 June, 01:30), Scotland (6 June, 20:00), Australia (12 June, 01:30) & England (15 June, 18:00)

Batter to watch: JJ Smit

Right-hander Smit has had a terrific couple of years, scoring his runs for Namibia at a strike-rate of 151 and a mammoth average of 66.

He has been particularly destructive against pace bowling at the back end of the innings, where his strike-rate and average rise to 164 and 84.

Bowler to watch: Gerhard Erasmus

The leg-spinner has had a whirlwind two years, taking nearly 30 wickets at an average of 12 in this World Cup cycle. He also concedes fewer than a run-a-ball.

He had his first foray into franchise T20 cricket in the ILT20 with the Gulf Giants.

Only T20 regular David Wiese has more T20 wickets in the Namibia squad this cycle.

Oman

ICC T20 world ranking: 18th

T20 World Cup appearances: Two

Best T20 World Cup performance: Round one (2016 & 2021)

Captain: Aqib Ilyas

Head coach: Duleep Mendis

Form (most recent last): WWWLW

Group fixtures (all times BST): Namibia (3 June, 01:30), Australia (6 June, 01:30), Scotland (9 June, 18:00) & England (13 June, 20:00)

Batter to watch: Aqib Ilyas

Ilyas is Oman’s leading run-scorer in the past 18 months and is the newly appointed captain for the World Cup.

The right-hander has been one of Oman’s most consistent performers with the bat, scoring six half-centuries since the last T20 World Cup.

A consistent and healthy strike-rate of 161 through the middle overs helps consolidate Oman’s innings, allowing powerplay and death-over specialists to bat around him.

Bowler to watch: Bilal Khan

Khan is Oman’s left-arm yorker specialist. He has taken 106 wickets for Oman in his T20 career. No other bowler has taken more than 50.

Used at the start and end of the innings, Khan boasts an impressive record in both phases.

In the past 18 months he has taken 10 powerplay wickets at an economy of 4.96, and backed that up with death-over figures of 13 wickets and an economy rate of 8.9.

Scotland

ICC T20 world ranking: 13th

T20 World Cup appearances: Five

Best T20 World Cup performance: Round two (2021)

Captain: Richie Berrington

Head coach: Doug Watson

Form (most recent last): WWLWL

Group fixtures (all times BST): England (4 June, 15:30), Namibia (6 June, 20:00), Oman (9 June, 18:00) & Australia (16 June, 01:30)

Batter to watch: George Munsey

Left-hander Munsey will bring his unique and aggressive style of batting to the top of the order for Scotland.

His extreme method sees him play a sweep to 40% of all balls from spinners - the highest of any batter in the world.

He is adept at manipulating the field with his sweeps and is a nightmare for any opposing captain to deal with.

Bowler to watch: Mark Watt

The left-arm spinner burst onto the international scene in the rescheduled 2020 T20 World Cup in Oman and the UAE.

His changes of pace are interspersed with his now-trademark 24-yard ball delivered from next to the umpire.

Watt has a superb record in the three T20 World Cups he has played in, with 16 wickets at an average of 20 and an economy of six.

He will be key in controlling opposition batters and keeping the totals Scotland have to chase to a minimum.

Form correct up to and including 28 May and includes completed matches only. All other stats correct as of 18 May.