The State of Play
If the closing stages of Australia’s opening win over Oman hinted at a statement of intent at the T20 World Cup 2024, their performance against England suggested they are contenders in menacing mood.
A combined 70 runs from David Warner and Travis Head set the tone in the first five overs and led to the largest total at the finals so far, reaching 201.
“Something will hit the fan,” Head quipped afterwards. “It can’t all go this well. We’re playing well.
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“It was an important game. This group is still trying to work towards hitting our straps. The mindset is we’re not winning at this stage.
“We want to do the right things and start playing well, and ourselves in that Super 8 and make sure we hit our straps at the right time.”
Namibia needed an 11-run Super Over victory to beat Oman and were then beaten by five wickets by an impressive Scotland side.
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That defeat has left their qualification hopes hinging on a seismic upset against opponents who beat them by nine wickets in a tournament warm-up match despite struggling to field a full team.
Richie Berrington won a thrilling game for Scotland in the penultimate over, but Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus, who opted to put his side in first, struck 52 from 31 deliveries as part of a score of 155.
“The batting performance had much more intent,” said Erasmus. “I feel reasonably good, bar perhaps the last couple of overs.
“There are four more points and we’re going to play our best games. We played a warm-up game against the Aussies, so we’ve had a taste of what world champions are about.”
The captains from Group B at the #T20WorldCup have their eye on the prize 👀🏆 pic.twitter.com/zKH8nQOYLg
— ICC (@ICC) June 1, 2024
Expected line-ups
Australia: Warner, Head, Marsh (c), Maxwell, Stoinis, David, Wade (wk), Cummins, Starc, Zampa, Hazlewood
Namibia: Kotze, Kruger, Frylinck, Erasmus (c), Wiese, Green (wk), Smit, Leicher, Trumpelmann, Scholtz, Lungameni
Two from two for our Aussie Men at the @T20WorldCup 💪#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/L3sKO5ylOV
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) June 9, 2024
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the T20 World Cup to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Coverage gets underway on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket from 1am UK time.
In India, the games can be streamed on Disney + Hotstar app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
Prediction
Australia lost during the opening stage of the tournament in 2021 and 2023 but it is hard to foresee Namibia denying them what will likely be an assured qualification here.
Adam Zampa looks particularly well placed to unsettle the Eagles after taking 4-52 off eight overs so far, including a player-of-the-match display against England.
