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Travis Head isn't one for sweet talk at press conferences. So, when asked on the eve of Australia's first-ever match against Oman about his knowledge of the opposition, he was straightforward about knowing very little. You can't blame him, though. This will be Oman's biggest international match, on the grandest stage, against arguably their most high-profile opponents. While the Australians have likely studied the available footage of the Oman players, as Head mentioned, it ultimately comes down to dealing with what’s in front of them on Wednesday night (June 5) at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
This match presents a rare opportunity for the Australians to face a team whose players they have never encountered on the field. It's a proper throwback to when Test teams would meet Associate nations in World Cups of previous generations.
The cliché is that Oman has nothing to lose and everything to gain by putting on a show against the former champions, who are eager to start their campaign strongly in their bid to complete the treble. Oman's captain, Aqib Ilyas, echoed this sentiment in his impressive press conference. For the Australians, it’s about getting their seasoned players, who have played a lot of cricket together, to come together once more as they aim to follow up their 50-over World Cup win in November with nearly the same group.
It will be interesting to see how they manage this after a rather unusual lead-up to the World Cup, with many of their players arriving in the Caribbean just days before the opening game. A washout on Tuesday also canceled their final optional training session, meaning only four of their players have had more than a single net session before facing Oman.
For Oman, as Ilyas put it, after narrowly losing to Namibia in a Super Over, this is their chance to redeem themselves in a match that will be memorable regardless of the result.
With England and Scotland forced to share points after their match was abandoned, Group B already has an intriguing dynamic. This will be Australia's chance to put real pressure on their arch-rivals by getting off to a flying start, setting the stage for Saturday’s high-stakes clash between Australia and Jos Buttler's team.
Squads:
Australia Squad: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis(w), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Ashton Agar, Tim David, Matthew Wade, Nathan Ellis
Oman Squad: Kashyap Prajapati, Naseem Khushi(w), Aqib Ilyas(c), Zeeshan Maqsood, Khalid Kail, Ayaan Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Mehran Khan, Shakeel Ahmed, Kaleemullah, Bilal Khan, Fayyaz Butt, Shoaib Khan, Rafiullah, Pratik Athavale
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Vs Oman 
on Australia 
