I hope Warner opens bowling for Australia - Jones

Scotland's Michael Jones hopes batter David Warner opens the bowling for Australia in the game that is likely to decide their Men's T20 World Cup fate.

Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has suggested Australia, who have already qualified for the Super 8s, may not play at full capacity against Scotland to ensure England are knocked out.

England can match Scotland's total of five points by beating Oman and Namibia but must do so convincingly then hope Australia win by a margin that allows the defending champions' net run-rate to surpass that of their rivals.

England coach Matthew Mott has said he hopes Hazlewood’s comments about potentially manipulating the net run-rate were "tongue in cheek".

"I was watching it live and I was laughing," Jones, who admits he wants to progress "in any way that it can come", said.

"The rivalry between Australia and England is massive and, if Australia want to play it that way then happy days. Maybe let David Warner open the bowling or something.

"I don't know any Australia players, but it would be good if we could have a little word and sort something out!" joked Jones.

Hazlewood's comments have put the spotlight on Australia's line-up and performance in the game - and could mean a stronger team and a committed attitude.

"I hope not," Ormskirk-born Jones, who described the thought of reaching the Super 8s as "the stuff of dreams", said.

"The Aussies are renowned for being extremely diligent and I’m certain they will come all guns blazing.

"We'll do our best to win the game, try and take the background noise out of the equation and not get too distracted among all the noise.

"But I watched the Hazelwood interview and [ex-captain] Tim Paine saying they should field half a side and it is at the back of your mind that - you want the result in any way that it can come. We just want to get through."

Opener Jones accepts it is an advantage for Scotland to know what they have to do given they play Australia in the early hours of Sunday morning UK time, after England have played Nambia on Saturday evening.

He also admits they may have a plan to protect their net run rate if victory against Australia looks beyond them.

Scotland's net run rate is a healthy 2.164 and, while England's is a lowly -1.8, that will improve with their expected wins against Oman on Thursday and Namibia.

"The benefit is the knowledge of what we need to do and maybe not having to take as many risks depending on how things look," Jones added.

"The guys behind the scenes will work out the exact figures.

"For example, chasing 180, but we need to get to 150 to go through, if there are wickets falling, if we can get to that score [150], that's the obvious thing to do - to get through by any means possible."

Jones hopes Australia field a weakened side, but if that does not materialise, he will relish the prospect of facing some of the game's great bowlers.

"You want to challenge yourself against the best and coming into the tournament you see we've got England and Australia, so that is opportunities to bat against Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood, Mitchell Starc, they're the best in the world and these are the opportunities we crave," he added.

"You want to see how you go against these guys. so I almost hope they do go full strength and we can show the cricket world we're up to the challenge."