Team news, likely XIs, form guide, players to watch, odds, TV and streaming information, weather forecast, umpire appointments and everything else you need to know
Scotland take on Papua New Guinea in the preliminary round of the T20 World Cup.
The game is scheduled for 2pm local time (11am BST) on Tuesday, October 19, 2021.
The game will be held at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground at Al Amerat in Oman.
Oman Cricket Academy Ground: Ground guide
Despite barely playing over the past two years, Scotland look in incredible nick heading into their second match of the 2021 T20 World Cup. After defeating Netherlands and Namibia in their two warm-up matches, Kyle Coetzer's side took down Bangladesh in their tournament opener in a display of a resilience and impressive batting depth. Scotland recovered from 53 for 6 to set Bangladesh 141 to win before some tidy bowling from Brad Wheal, Josh Davey, Mark Watt and Chris Greaves helped them complete an unexpected victory.
Papua New Guinea, meanwhile, put in a much better performance against Oman than the 10-wicket margin of their defeat suggests. They too showed great fighting spirit with the bat, recovering from 0 for 2 to post an entertaining 129 for 9. Their bowlers were no match for Oman's opening pair, who completed the chase with 38 balls to spare, but it was a courageous display from the unfancied side.
Scotland and Papua New Guinea have met twice in T20Is, with the former winning on both occasions. In their most recent meeting, on October 8, Scotland won by eight wickets after chasing down 155 to win with 13 balls to spare.
Scotland are the heavy favourites to win this match, with Dafabet offering odds of 1/7. A Papua New Guinea upset is available at 9/2.
There's only one name on everybody's lips and that's Chris Greaves, the former Amazon delivery driver turned star allrounder. The 31-year-old, who made his international debut against PNG just under a fortnight ago, scored 45 runs off 28 balls to lead Scotland's tail-end resurgence before taking the key wickets of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim to disrupt Bangaldesh's chase. He'll be a marked man for the remainder of the tournament but expect him to play a big role in proceedings when times get tough for Scotland.
Also keep an eye on Mark Watt, Greaves' partner in crime with the bat against Bangladesh (22 off 17) and returned figures of 1 for 19 from his four overs.
For Papua New Guinea, Assad Vala stole the headlines against Oman with a classy 56 off 43 balls. The skipper, who is ranked 466th on the T20 Player Index, battered four fours and three sixes to drag his side from 0 for 2 to 102 for 4 and was a nuisance against Scotland earlier in October, scoring 55 off 43 before falling to Hamza Tahir.
Given Scotland's struggles with spin against Bangaldesh, Vala could also come in to play with the ball as a dependable off-spinner. Alternatively, fellow top-order batter Charles Amini possesses a loopy leg-spin action which could, for a couple of balls at least, bamboozle a few nervy Scots.
Coming soon.
The following umpires and match referees have been named by the ICC to officiate in the T20 World Cup 2021:
Referees: David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Javagal Srinath
Umpires: Chris Brown, Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere, Rod Tucker, Joel Wilson, Paul Wilson
The following officials have been allocated to this fixture:
On-field umpires: Dharmesena, Kettleborough
TV umpire: Raza
Fourth umpire: Gaffaney
Referee: Madugalle
Full T20 World Cup officials appointments: Click here
Scorching hot conditions are forecast in Oman, with temperatures expected to touch 36 degrees Celsius at the start of this match.
Follow the Met Office forecast here.
Yes, though Covid protocols including the wearing of face masks will be in place.
Click here to visit the ICC's ticketing site.
Papua New Guinea will be hoping to put on a more competitive show than they did against Oman in the tournament opener. However, even their best performance probably won't be enough to beat a resilient Scotland side.
T20 WORLD CUP TEAM GUIDES
Sky Sports Cricket (Sky 404, Talk Talk 404, BT TV 423, Virgin 504) will broadcast the series in the United Kingdom, with the content available online via its streaming platform Sky Go.
BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra will have live ball-by-ball radio commentary of all tournament matches, accessible through the BBC Sport website, BBC Sounds or DAB radio.
The Star Sports network is showing the tournament in India. Matches can be streamed via Disney+ Hotstar
Other broadcasters by territory:
Australia - Fox Sports, Channel 9, Kayo Sports
New Zealand – Sky Sport New Zealand
Pakistan - PTV Sports, Ten Sports
Bangladesh - Ghazi Tv (GTV)
Sri Lanka – SLRC (Channel Eye)
South Africa – SuperSport
Caribbean – ESPN
Middle East and North Africa – eLife TV, StarzPlay, Switch TV
USA – ESPN+
Singapore - Star Cricket, Star Hub and Singtel
Malaysia - Fox International Channels
Hong Kong - Star Cricket
Papua New Guinea: Assad Vala (c), Charles Amini, Hiri Hiri, Norman Vanua, Tony Ura, J. Gardner, J. Kila, Vani Vagi Morea, Chad Soper, Lega Siaka, Damien Ravu, Nosaina Pokana, Gaudi Toka, Kiplin Doriga (wk), Sese Bau, Simon Atai
Scotland: Kyle Coetzer (c), Richard Berrington, Dylan Budge, Matthew Cross (wk), Josh Davey, Ally Evans, Chris Greaves, Michael Leask, Calum Macleod, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Hamza Tahir, Craig Wallace, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal
Papua New Guinea: Tony Ura, Lega Siaka, Assad Vala (c), Charles Amini, Sese Bau, Norman Vanua, Simon Atai, Kiplin Doriga, Damien Ravu, Kabua Morea, Nosaina Pokana
Scotland: George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer (c), Matthew Cross, Richie Berrington, Calum Macleod, Michael Leask, Mark Watt, Josh Davey, Chris Greaves, Brad Wheal, Safyaan Sharif
T20 World Cup Hub: News, features, stats, live scores
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