England are in a precarious position at the T20 World Cup 2024 after a washout against Scotland and loss versus Australia.The Jos Buttler led side’s chances of qualifying into the Super 8s are now not in their hands even if they win their next two matches.

Defending champions England are at the fourth spot in Group B with just a point and -1.800 Net Run Rate. Even if they win both their games against Oman and Namibia, they can’t overtake Scotland, who are second with five points and a healthy +2.164 NRR.

Not only England have to win both their remaining games by heavy margins but they also hope that their arch-rivals and table leaders Australia hand Scotland a huge defeat to dent the Scots’ NRR.

Australia will face Scotland in their final Group B match in St Lucia on Saturday and former Aussie skipper Tim Paine wants Mitchell Marsh-led side to “manipulate” that game to ensure that England are knocked out of the T20 World Cup.

“Absolutely they should (manipulate the result) and I’m not even joking. I’ve spoken to people about this in the last few days. I’m dead serious,” Paine said on Sen Radio.

The 39-year-old Paine said that he doesn’t want Australia to lose the match but rather make it close enough for England to be eliminated.

“I’m not sure what the net run rate looks like, you don’t have to lose the game, I think they can just let Scotland get close enough. Again, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, Scotland could have a day out. But say Scotland batted first and got to 140 and we chased it off 19.5 overs to make sure they don’t suffer a big net run rate loss,” he said.

“I think England have to win both of their games by about 50 runs to even get up towards Scotland’s net run rate. So, it’s certainly plausible that you can win the game (but still ensure England don’t progress),” he added.

The former skipper sees this as a “smart, calculated” move that may help Australia later in the tournament.

“That’s not just because it’s England. You got to go into these tournaments trying to win a World Cup. Who could certainly pose a threat in the latter rounds? That is England. There’s no doubt they are still one of the best teams in the world, they got off to a horrible start and now it’s in our hands.

“If you could knock out one of the most highly fancied teams in the tournament and do it in a way that’s you’re not deliberately losing a game, I’m all for it. You’re manipulating the net run rates a little bit… you can say whatever you want to say, but to me, it is smart, calculated, tournament play,” said Paine.

“We’re there to win a World Cup. I wouldn’t want to play England in the semifinal. They’ve got six or seven guys that could take a game away from you, much like Australia do.

If you can have a side like that not go through to the next phase, it makes the World Cup easier for you to win,” he added.