Australia won the toss and opt to bowl
A clinical performance by Australia as they have managed to wrap up Namibia for a paltry total of 72. Electing to bowl first, Hazlewood and Cummins dismantled the top-order by reducing Namibia to 15/3. And once the top-order was dismissed, Adam Zampa came into the attack and took control of proceedings. The Australian leg-spinner kept striking at regular intervals and took a four-wicket haul as Namibia were further reduced to 43/8 by end of Zampa’s prolific spell. Gerhard Erasmus played a fighting knock, however, the skipper didn’t get any support from any of his team-mates. Stoinis cleaned up the tail in the 17th over as Namibia failed to impress against the mighty Aussies. Should be an easy chase for them.
Josh Hazlewood: I think the wicket was pretty good, it started to spin quite a bit. A good all-round effort from the boys. It’s huge, we have 15 players to pick from, few of the games are back to back, game-time into a few guys might be crucial. Adapting to different conditions around the world is key and Zampa’s is a crucial cog in that wheel.
Four outfield catches in a T20 World Cup match
Darren Sammy vs Ire Providence 2010
Aiden Markram vs Ban New York 2024
Glenn Maxwell vs Nam North Sound 2024
Lowest totals by Namibia in T20Is
72 vs Aus North Sound 2024
92 vs SL Abu Dhabi 2021
96 vs Net Dubai 2019
98/9 vs Afg Abu Dhabi 2021
Lowest totals against Aus in T20Is
72 Nam North Sound 2024
73 Ban Dubai 2021
74 Ind Melbourne 2008
74 Pak Dubai 2012
87 SL Bridgetown 2010
Australia have finished this off inside the powerplay. They have also qualified to the Super Eights now. As dominant a win as they come. The bowlers ripped through the Namibian batting early on and even though Erasmus fought a lone hand, the total of 72 was never going to test the Aussies. Warner showed his intent early on as he tried to finish it off in a hurry. Head then joined in the act after Warner’s dismissal. Marsh too was in the same mood and even though NRR was never a consideration for the Aussies, they showed what a professional winning machine they are. A hard lesson to learn for Namibia but they will be better off for tonight’s experience.
Highest difference in Powerplay in T20 WCs
57 Nam (17/3) vs Aus (74/1) North Sound 2024
55 Sco (27/2) vs Nam (82/2) Dubai 2021
48 Aus (35/3) vs WI (83/0) The Oval 2009
Highest Powerplay for Australia in T20 World Cups
74/1 Aus vs Nam North Sound 2024
74/2 vs Eng Bridgetown 2024
67/2 vs Ban Dubai 2021
63/0 vs SL Dubai 2021
62/0 vs Ban Cape Town 2007
62/1 vs WI Colombo RPS 2012
Winnings with most balls to spare in T20 WCs
90 SL vs Net Chattogram 2014
86 Aus vs Nam North Sound 2024
82 Aus vs Ban Dubai 2021
81 Ind vs Sco Dubai 2021
77 SL vs Net Sharjah 2021
Adam Zampa | Player of the Match: It sounds fine, we qualify for the Super 8s, that’s a nice feeling. Enjoying bowling, being encouraged to take wickets by the captain, just trying to do my thing mate. We are happy (to qualify), first step in trying to take the trophy home, but long way to go.
Gerhard Erasmus | Namibia captain: That you can’t sit back against the best in the world. The skill gap is there, we tried to close that by fighting fire with fire but we did not do that in this tournament so far. A good side like Australia with their skillset will expose you if you are not mentally there, the conditions were fair and unfortunately, we did not play well enough according to the conditions.
Mitchell Marsh | Australia captain: I thought it was a great performance from the bowling team. Swing was around and all-round a professional performance. It’s really important and great to qualify for the super eights. We will manage as many as we can over the next few days. [on Zampa] If you look at his career over the last 4-5 years, he ‘s probably our most important player. He loves the pressure and he is bowling well at the moment and we are lucky to have him. [on how they are enjoying the off days in West Indies] Probably not as many beers as you had back in the day Haydos. Lots of beach days and it’s like being back in Perth, we are enjoying it.
Australia stroll through to the Super Eights. Namibia were given a true lesson tonight. On that note we sign off from here. Rest assured there’s lot of cricket coming up and we will be there for all of that. Till then chill, take care and be well.