Watch cricket video highlights of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 thirty-fourth match between England vs Namibia. Venue of the match will be North Sound.
Both the carry in the surface for the Oman game and the amount of spin that Rashid extracted found England pleasantly pleased. There will likely be another complete match because the Antigua leg was held under brighter skies following the wet circumstances in Barbados. Ben Shikongo and Jack Brassell, who were launched for a combined total of 33 runs in ten balls during a one-sided run-chase, made their first appearances of the season in Namibia’s most recent match against Australia, perhaps ending their career as well. Only Dylan Leicher, a 20-year-old hitter, has not yet had a game action on Namibia’s 15-man roster. Now that their dreams of qualifying are gone, they could feel pressured to rearrange again.
With Reece Topley starting his first tournament match and adding an uncomfortable left-arm point of difference to counterbalance Jofra Archer and Mark Wood’s velocity of over 90 mph, England’s assault was lethal in the annihilation of Oman. Oman’s lineup found it all too hot to handle, but considering the two-day gap between games, there could be an incentive to rest one or both of the latter, particularly because any old win will put England on course for qualifying. The hero of England’s championship victory two years ago, Sam Curran, is holding out for his first game of the season, and Chris Jordan could also make a comeback.
Never say never, but at 39 years old and with two years to go until Namibia’s next chance at an ICC world tournament, this might be David Wiese’s final chance on the big stage. Wiese has been a key player in Namibia’s success since he switched allegiance back in 2021, having previously participated in 26 South African matches, including one at the 2016 World T20. With three wickets combined with an outstanding Super Over performance against Oman, he was crucial to their lone victory so far in this season. Against Scotland and Australia, however, he was less successful. On Saturday, a return to his greatest work would still give England some anxiety.
Adil Rashid’s game was in excellent working order against Oman, but it took him a few matches in this event to get fully back up to speed, which is understandable given that his performances against Pakistan last month were his first competitive appearances since February. An inexperienced middle-order player from Oman had to guess at his command of flight and variation, which resulted in an analysis that included an astounding 20 dot-balls. If he can replicate that kind of performance across four overs against Namibia, it should be sufficient to highlight the disparity between the two sides. As England can now, hesitantly, look forward to the Super Eight, seeing a mature Rashid settle into his job bodes incredibly well for the future of the reigning champions.
Has the real England finally got up? If the truth be known, the jury is likely still deliberating over its decision. If a one-and-a-quarter match was not enough to evaluate their early-tournament struggles against Scotland and Australia, then a 19-ball run-chase against a superior Oman side hardly constitutes evidence that all is okay with the reigning world champions. Nonetheless, England’s advancement is now largely back in their hands thanks to the swiftness and assurance of that Oman performance, which was played against the clock much like that of their rivals. They have more than doubled their net run rate compared to the Scots (3.08 to 2.16), and they can now relax knowing that any kind of success versus Namibia will raise that number even more and keep them on track for the Super Eight.
Of course, there is and always will be a kernel of doubt as long as Scotland can pull off the shock of the tournament by defeating Australia in the final Group B match on Sunday. However, given that Pat Cummins has formally stated that the Spirit of Cricket is on the line in that match, following a week of rumors regarding go-slows, it’s reasonable to assume that Australia will give it their all, as they always do in international competitions. When they bowled Namibia out for 72 on Tuesday in Antigua, they most definitely accomplished it. The performance was almost exactly the same as when England crushed Oman; it culminated in a 34-ball run chase against England’s 19, nine wickets against England’s eight, with their top legspinner Adam Zampa taking 4 for 12 against Adil Rashid’s 4 for 11.
The sole notable distinction was the resistance provided by Gerhard Erasmus, the captain of Namibia, with his hard-working 36 off 43 balls. Given their doubts from the previous week, England can’t afford to become comfortable, but if this squad is genuinely built around its skipper Buttler, then confidence will inevitably breed confidence. They have given their tournament story some agency back. If they lost that qualifying opportunity before Scotland could spoil the fun on Sunday, it would be among the greatest upsets in World Cup history.
