ANTIGUA, JUN 16: England defeated Namibia by 41 runs in the rain-affected game of the T20 World Cup 2024 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday.
The match was reduced to 11 overs per side due to rain. The match started three hours behind schedule. There was an interruption again during the eighth over with match being reduced to 10 overs per side.
The bowlers of the defending champions outclassed the Eagles who could hit 84/3 while chasing England’s target of 122/5. Namibia had to chase 126 after Duckworth–Lewis–Stern (DLS) adjusted target due to rain.
Chasing the target, Michael van Lingen and Nikolaas Davin only managed to add 43 runs in the first six overs. Davin (16 off 18) retired and Wiese partnered with Van Lingen.
The duo executed their strokeplay but couldn’t get near the target. Van Lingen made 29-ball 33 while Wiese scored 12-ball 27.
Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer took a wicket each for England.
Batting first, England had a rough start as skipper Jos Buttler (0) and Phil Salt (11) were dismissed early. However, the innings was stabilised by Jonny Bairstow.
The pressure exerted at the start by the Namibian bowlers was relieved by this duo as they continued to score runs freely. They put up a 56-run partnership off 30 balls.
Harry Brook was the highlight of England’s batting as he scored 47 runs from 20 balls. His innings included 4 fours and 2 sixes. Meanwhile, Jonny Bairstow also hit 31 off 18 balls with the help of 3 fours and 2 sixes.
Earlier, Namibia won the toss and elected to bowl first. The match has been reduced to 11 overs per side due to rain and the match is starting after three hours.
England need to win this game to stay in contention for the Super 8 since they have three points in three games.
Australia have already qualified for the Super 8 from Group A since they have won all of their games.
Meanwhile, Namibia are already out of the competition after winning only one game out of three.
England have three points in three games. A washout will help Scotland to qualify for the next round as they have five points from three games and England will remain at four points.
Playing XIs
England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (c& wk), Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
Namibia: Nikolaas Davin, Michael van Lingen, Jan Frylinck, JP Kotze, Gerhard Erasmus (c), JJ Smit, David Wiese, Zane Green (wk), Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz, Jack Brassell
