In the aftermath of the Jonny Bairstow stumping at Lord’s last year, England’s Test coach Brendon McCullum remarked of Australia that “I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer with them any time soon”.

Following a late show of Australian hitting in Antigua to vanquish brave Scotland, England’s white-ball coach Matthew Mott should consider sending a case of thank-you champagne to Marcus Stoinis (59, 29 balls) and Travis Head (68, 49 balls).

Their power games helped deliver a five-wicket victory, and ensured England would qualify for the pointy end of the Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean, ending any notion of Australia easing up to allow the Scots free passage to the next round.

England’s progression may have also saved the jobs of former Australian women’s head coach Mott and skipper Jos Buttler, who each entered the Cup under considerable pressure following a wretched ODI World Cup defence in India last year.

With nothing to gain from the final pool game, Australia’s players had toyed with the possibility of playing a part in England’s elimination. Josh Hazlewood said as much publicly, although head coach Andrew McDonald and senior fast man Pat Cummins were far less amenable to the idea.

Buttler’s team qualified because Australia won handily, thus upholding the spirit of cricket in English eyes. They will meet again at least once before this tournament is done.