Recent Match
ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2024, 24th Match, Group B, North Sound, Antigua, Jun 12th, 2024

Namibia

(16.6 ov) 72/10

Australia

(5.4 ov) 74/1

Complete Australia won by 9 wkts

Right then, it's toss time..
Hello and welcome to another T20 clash of the 2024 World Cup. It’s Australia vs Namibia folks! On paper, Australia are clearly the superior opponent, but given the nature of this T20 World Cup, you have seen associate teams beat the top-ranked teams. So you never know what’s in store. An explosive batting line-up along with a bowling attack that can make their oppositions dance to their tunes. Australia have got it all. But again, it’s the nature of this tournament that makes anything possible. Australia would be looking forward to brush aside Namibia with nonchalance today and register their third win of the tournament. Will they? Only time will tell.. The toss and teams are not far away, stay around for all the updates..
19:30 Local Time, 23:30 GMT, 05:00 IST:
Preview Bharat Sundaresan

It's quite the throwback when you look at the last time Australia and Namibia faced each other in a full men's international match. It was February 27, 2003, in Potchefstroom, and a day that Namibian cricket fans will remember with mixed feelings. It was after all when they played the then 50-over World Cup champions but also when they got badly thrashed by the then 50-over World Cup champions, being bowled out by Glenn McGrath (7/15) for 45.

Here we are 21 years later, and Australia are still 50-over World Cup champions. But unlike back then, it's no longer a Namibian team that are simply here as participants in a world event. If 2003 was mainly about being our first exposure to Namibia as an international cricket team, their development as a T20I team in recent years has been significant. And they always seem to have a surprise up their sleeve, every time they find themselves at these T20 World Cups.

Having said that, just like in 2003, Australia have started off this campaign in the Caribbean in an emphatic fashion. If they managed to see off Oman quite convincingly after a stuttering start, they were even more comprehensive in getting the better of defending champions, England, in Barbados. And they've arrived in Antigua, more or less having qualified for the Super 8s, with a chance to secure qualification with a win on Tuesday (June 11).

For Namibia, this will be yet another chance to showcase to the Australians that they are no pushovers. Their win against Oman on the opening day of Group B action was tempting enough to think of them being the potential upset-machine in the competition. But they were outmatched quite glaringly by Scotland in their second game, but they are still technically not out of pulling off a stunning march into the second round.

When: Australia vs Namibia, June 11, 08.30 PM Local, 06.00 am IST (June 12), 10.30 am (June 12) AEST

Where: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

What to expect: You feel the heat in Antigua before you feel the humidity, unlike in Barbados and a couple of other islands in the region. It's a sharp sun and it also is why possibly we've always had a history of drying and cracked pitches in this beautiful isle. The one at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium should be no different as we saw in the Oman-Scotland game a couple of days earlier. But like witnessed there, Antigua has been billed as being one of the venues where the batters could breathe slightly easier and some of the Aussies in particular would not mind that at all.

Head-to-Head: This is their first-ever T20I meeting

Team Watch:

Australia: Having brought Pat Cummins back in for Nathan Ellis against England, there is a chance that one of the other fast bowlers gets a break in Antigua, and it would be interesting to see if the replacement is Ashton Agar as the spinning all-rounder.

Tactics & Matchups: They've been aggressive at the top and their power-hitting order has seemed in good form too. It's only really Glenn Maxwell's form, not taking his crucial hand in the England game, that you'd think Australia will be hoping comes good in Antigua.

Probable XI: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc/Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Namibia: All the players are fit and available for selection. They are likely to stick with the same XI

While Ruben Trumpelmann and Bernard Scholtz have been the highlights for Namibia with the ball, their batting has come unstuck against disciplined bowling, both against Oman and Scotland. And you'd expect the challenge to not get any easier against the Australians. Their only chance to even push Australia would be for the likes of Kotze, Erasmus and the rest to come good and set up David Wiese for a big finish, again with the hope that their bowling attack is somehow able to stop the quick-scoring Australian batters.

Probable XI: JP Kotze, Nikolaas Davin, Jan Frylinck, Gerhard Erasmus (c), Malan Kruger, David Wiese, Zane Green (wk), Ruben Trumpelmann, JJ Smit, Bernard Scholtz, Tangeni Lungameni

Did you know?

- All of Australia's top seven batters have had a strike rate of 150-plus in T20Is since the last T20 World Cup

- With 15 wickets in 10 matches, Marcus Stoinis has been Australia's leading wicket-taker in the shortest format since the last T20 World Cup

What they said:

It was good just to see what you can expect from them and what level we need to be on. Obviously, it didn't go that well, but for a lot of guys this was their first outing against such a big team, so I think a lot of lessons learnt and hopefully coming ready for tomorrow - Bernard Scholtz on Namibia's experience of playing Australia in the warm-ups

I think first things first, qualify for the next stage. So, [against] Namibia, we need a win to guarantee ourselves a way through. And then I think after that, once we've firmed up that qualification, then we can start to look at that potential if we feel like it's necessary - Andrew McDonald on the possibility of experimenting with the XI
Squads:
Australia Squad: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh(c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade(w), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Ashton Agar, Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis
Namibia Squad: JP Kotze, Nikolaas Davin, Jan Frylinck, Gerhard Erasmus(c), Malan Kruger, Zane Green(w), David Wiese, Ruben Trumpelmann, JJ Smit, Bernard Scholtz, Tangeni Lungameni, Michael van Lingen, Ben Shikongo, Dylan Leicher, Peter-Daniel Blignaut, Jack Brassell