Hazlewood says Australia could consider plan to orchestrate England T20 World Cup exit

Reigning champions England are facing uncertain times as their fate at the T20 World Cup appears to have slipped out of their control.

England have suffered one washout against Scotland and a defeat to Australia in the T20 showpiece event and are edging closer to an early exit ahead of their match against Oman in Antigua on Thursday.

Jos Buttler's team need a lot of things to go their way if they are to qualify for the Super Eight stage. Firstly, England need to defeat Oman and Namibia comfortably and also hope Scotland fall to a heavy defeat in their last group game against Australia. This would mean that they are tied on points with the Scots and net run rate comes into play.

Right now, Scotland have five points and a robust net run rate of 2.164 compared to England's one point and a net run rate of -1.8.

What has made the path ahead even more difficult for England would be if Australia, who are already through to the next stage, play their match against Scotland in a way that net run rate sends Scotland through and England out; effectively rigging the system.

After the match against Oman, England face Namibia on Saturday. Australia and Scotland, however, will meet on Sunday.

The St Lucia match will begin hours after England's clash with Namibia finishes, which could give Australia enough time to work out exactly what margin of victory for them would ensure they top the group but Scotland also progress as runners-up.

Australia fast-bowler Josh Hazlewood said “it's in our best interest” to see defending champions England suffer an early exit when the Aussies and Scots meet at St Lucia.

“In this tournament you potentially come up against England at some stage again and they're probably one of the top few teams on their