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India bow out of T20 World Cup campaign outclassing Namibia

The Indian cricket team bowed out of the T20 World Cup by defeating Namibia by a comprehensive margin of 9 wickets. Virat Kohli’s men showed no signs of relaxation despite having their campaign ended by a New Zealand victory against Afghanistan on Sunday 7 November. They stuck to their process and stayed on top of the game at every possible phase making sure that there are no surprises left in this edition of the World Cup. After restricting Namibia to a total of 132 runs, the Indian batting unit, courtesy of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav put pedal to the metal and brought up the total with 28 balls remaining. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma scored fluent 50s after surviving early scares in the innings. After the departure of Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav took over the reins and was at his absolute best, displaying his breathtaking range of strokes. He scored 25 off 19 balls. Earlier in the innings, the Indian spinners weaved their magic to puncture any momentum that the Namibia batting order could have had. Aided by the cross-breeze from the Pavillion end, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja routed the Namibian batting order picking three wickets between them. While Ashwin beat the players in flight, Jadeja used his length and pace to good measure outfoxing the opposition players. Jasprit Bumrah was among the wickets as well, picking up key wickets of Micheal van Lingen and David Weise at two ends of the innings. Weise top scored for Namibia with 26 runs off 25 balls before chipping a full length slower ball from Bumrah to Rohit Sharma standing inside the cricle. There was a silver lining for Namibia despite the loss in the tournament as they qualified for the 2022 T20 World Cup scheduled in Australia. Captain Gerhard Erasmus acknowledged the same and stated that they have hopefully inspired the next level of cricketers in Namibia to take the sport forward. Ravindra Jadeja was adjudged the man of the match for his stellar spell of 4-0-16-3. The game marked the end of Virat Kohli’s captaincy in the T20I format with the legendary right hander finishing off with a 64 percent win record in his tenure. Reflecting on the same, Kohli stated that it has been ‘6-7 years of intense cricket’ and it is a relief to have relinquished the captaincy given the ‘toll it has taken’ out of him. He added that as long as he plays for India, his passion will never fade and he will forever give his 120% for the team. India will now be heading home and hopfeully for a much needed break after staying in bio-bubbles for over six months. They start their next assignment against New Zealand on 17 November in a three match T20I series.

T20 World Cup | Bruised India look to test bench strength as Namibia aim to add insult to injury

So the World Cup’s group stage is finally coming to an end and it might not be the right way to end with a non-impact game as the result of this game won’t matter to anyone anywhere apart from the two teams involved in this game. While at one end there is India who have got literally nothing to play for apart from the fact that they can test their bench strength and give a somewhat accommodative farewell to Virat Kohli in his last game as the blue brigade’s T20I skipper. On the other end, there is Namibia who have everything to play for and end what has been their best-ever showing on a world stage. What's at stake? For India, there is obviously pride to play for. And along with it, there is also the opportunity to let the likes of Rahul Chahar have an experience of seeing what it is like to play in a World Cup. Other than that, Virat Kohli, who hasn’t really had a great outing with the bat so far can also promote himself as there is no burden of net run rate now. Playing freely should be the idea that team India could incorporate. For Namibia, there could be a no bigger opportunity than this one to show what they are made of. They did well against New Zealand and Pakistan and even won a Super 12 game by beating Scotland. If they have an impressive outing against India, which is not necessarily a win, but just to have great moments, it will go a long way in giving them the belief that they could do well. What needs to change? As far as India are concerned they would like to finish the game as soon as possible but that wouldn’t be at the cost of not giving youngsters such as Ishan Kishan and Rahul Chahar a chance to play. This match is dead by all means for India and they wouldn’t be losing anyways so why not give young players a feel of what it is like to play at the biggest event of them all. For Namibia, it would once again come down to their batting. The bowling of the team has been brilliant apart from the death overs against New Zealand in their last game, but it is the batting that has disappointed. In the first round, it was the batting of the likes of skipper Gerhard Erasmus and experienced David Wiese that got the team through in two tough games against Ireland and Netherlands and even in the Super 12 against Scotland. But since then the two players have not been able to get going and in the last match, it would only be fitting that they go all out with the bat. India vs Namibia: Match Details Match Number - 42 Date and Time: November 08, 2021, 07:30 pm IST, 06:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm GMT Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Broadcast and Livestream: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report The pitch at Dubai has overtime shown that it has some help for spinners early on, but as it gets wet in the second innings, there is literally nothing that the bowling unit can do and prevent a team from chasing down the total. Thus dew becomes a very undue advantage for the team batting second. Weather Forecast The temperature at the stadium will fall from 28-degree Celsius at 06:00 pm to 25-degree Celsius by 10:00 pm and similarly, the humidity will increase from 51% to 65%. With such a huge amount of humidity, heavy dew is expected as well. Team News India The Indian team can rest Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin for this game and give Ishan Kishan and Rahul Chahar a chance. Probable XI KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah Namibia Namibia can bring back Jan Frylick who is a sure shot all-rounder and as an experienced member of the team, he would be looking to play such a big game as this. Probable XI Stephan Baard, Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Zane Green (wk), Michael van Lingen, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz CE XI Fantasy team Wicketkeepers Ishan Kishan Batters KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Gerhard Erasmus All-rounders Ravindra Jadeja, David Wiese, JJ Smit Bowlers Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ruben Trumpelmann Vice-Captain Ravindra Jadeja Captain KL Rahul

T20 World Cup | NZ vs NAM: In pursuit of net run rate boost, New Zealand face tricky Namibians in Sharjah

New Zealand have got all their bases covered and even after struggling a bit in their last game against Scotland, they ended up on the winning side and now have four points from three games. All they need is to win their remaining games which are against Namibia and Afghanistan and they would be through to the semi-finals. They have got no net run rate to worry about. But what if they lose against Afghanistan? What if? To cover that what if, they would look to make sure that their net run rate touches a great high as they face Namibia in their next challenge. Given the fact that the match is at Sharjah and Namibian bowlers have been good throughout the tournament, it might just not be the easiest game for the Kiwis. But easy or not they must try and win it big time. What's at stake? For New Zealand, it is about making a safe basket, which they could not even if they tried as getting past the Afghan and India net run rate is a herculean task, so they might as well just look to avoid any surprise and then as the match nears its end, try and get as early to the finish as possible, just to build some sort of pressure in Afghanistan and India regarding the net run rate issue. For Namibia, they would like t keep performing the way they have been. Their batting is of course the weakest link, especially the top order and hence they would like to see them firing for once. The stakes are not high as per the tournament for the blue eagles, but as far as a nation and as a team it is concerned, they would obviously like to outperform themselves from their last game and try and pull out a surprise. What needs to change? The biggest change that new Zealand would like to have before that virtual quarterfinal against Afghanistan is to have skipper Kane Williamson in form. He has not been able to spend as much time as is desirous from the captain of the team and hence him getting a lot of time in the middle. Another change that the Kiwis would like to have is either get Adam Milne in form or try out Kyle Jamieson. For Namibia, the biggest change could be to see their prime run-scorers in Round-1 captain Gerhard Erasmus and all-rounder David Wiese getting back in form with the willow. If these two score runs, the team from Africa could really pose a challenge with a very talented bowling attack. New Zealand vs Namibia: Match Details Match Number - 36 Date and Time: November 05, 2021, 03:30 pm IST, 02:00 pm Local, 10:00 am GMT Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Broadcast and Livestream: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report The pitch at Sharjah would have shine on it but it would act as a facade as the wicket would be low and slow as usual and anything above the range of 150 would be hard to chase on that wicket. Weather Forecast The temperature at the stadium will fall from 32-degree Celsius at 02:00 pm to 29-degree Celsius by 06:00 pm and similarly, the humidity will increase from 44% to 58% meaning that the wicket would keep getting stickier as the game progresses. Team News New Zealand New Zealand have all the players fit and fine, but it could really test Kyle Jamieson instead of dam Milne as the latter has been out of form in the last two games that he has played. Apart from that, no other change looks like a possibility. Probable XI Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (c), Devon Conway (wk), James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult Namibia For Namibia, they can try and get Bernard Scholtz back in the playing XI in place of van Lingen who has not been able to perform with the bat whatsoever. An extra spinner at Sharjah would really be of some help. Probable XI Stephan Baard, Zane Green (wk), Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Jan Frylinck, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo CE XI Fantasy team Wicketkeepers Devon Conway Batters Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Glenn Phillips, Gerhard Erasmus All-rounders David Wiese, JJ Smit Bowlers Ish Sodhi, Kyle Jamieson, Ruben Trumpelmann, Jan Frylinck Vice-Captain David Wiese Captain Martin Guptill

We are going in with some momentum into this clash against Scotland: Gerhard Erasmus

Namibia will commence the Super 12s stage against Scotland and the Gerhard Erasmus-led side will be coming into this game with some momentum after they defeated Netherlands and Ireland in the preliminary round. Talking about the same, captain Erasmus put his weight behind the team and insisted that the side can produce some positive results. “We are going in [with] some nice momentum into this clash tomorrow night. We've played well in the Abu Dhabi stadium as well, and if we can rock up with that energy and positive momentum going into a clash, I believe we can get the better of them,” he said. Scotland on the other side were thrashed by Afghanistan after they suffered a 130-run defeat. The Scotland team was bowled out for 60 while chasing 191 in 20 overs. Erasmus admitted that a team can have a disappointing day at the office and further added that his side will focus on the upcoming fixture more than Scotland’s last encounter. "We all know cricket is quite a rough game, and you can have days like that when another side is really on song and you find the going hard," he said. "So we wouldn't particularly be looking at their performance, we'll firstly focus on ourselves."

T20 World Cup | SCO vs NAM: Entering WC after 18 years, Namibia look to leave a mark

It took a blink of an eye for Scotland to surrender against Afghanistan in their last fixture in the T20 World Cup. The Scotland batting line up was just rattled by the Afghan spinners, Mujeeb and Rashid as the two shared a total of 9 wickets out of the ten. Well, the side can’t really do much about that dismal performance and can only move forward. Captain Kyle Coetzer had also stated that the side needs to keep the faith in the players. “We have a great bunch of players and belief in the side. Belief among the players is key. It's not like we'll be locked up in separate rooms. We'll come together in the hotel. We have to keep moving forward,” Coetzer said post the game against Afghanistan. They will now up against Namibia on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi. Namibia probably emerged as a surprise package during the preliminary round after they defeated Netherlands and Ireland (A team with the Test status) to march in the Super 12s. While they were delighted to make it through to the next phase of the global tournament, the way they clinched victories against the two sides was just impeccable. The Gerhard Erasmus first defeated Netherlands by 6 wickets and then Ireland by 8 wickets respectively to leave an impression that they were up for the bigger challenges. Match Details Match: SCO vs NAM, 21st Match, Super 12 Group 2, ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2021 Date: Wednesday, October 27, 2021 Time: 7:30 PM Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Telecast: Star Sports Network, Disney+ Hotstar Pitch Report The tracks in Abu Dhabi have generally favoured the team batting second in this tournament. Barring the clash between Sri Lanka and Ireland, the sides chasing a target have been successful so far in the competition. Moreover, the venue isn’t alien to Namibia as they played against Netherlands in Abu Dhabi and clinched a comfortable win in the end. The bowlers might get some aid from the track in the early stage. So, if you win the toss, bowl first. The only way is to move forward for Scotland Scotland suffered a major batting collapse against Afghanistan in the previous game, a performance that would haunt them for some time. But now the only way to overcome that disappointment is by turning the fortunes for themselves. A lot would depend upon opener George Munsey, captain Coetzer and middle-order batsman Richie Berrington. Munsey and Coetzer have enough experience of playing T20 cricket and the team would want them to provide a steady start to the side. Berrington who has scored runs for the team in this tournament will have to capitalise on the starts provided by the two openers. Apart from this, the bowlers too need to keep a check on opponents’ scoring-rate, a trick that they missed out in the last match. Perfect bid from Namibia on David Wiese Namibia have certainly made a fine bid after David Wiese joined the side and has provided the resistance and stability. Wiese has been instrumental in winning some important matches for Namibia especially the last two where he anchored the side to important wins. While he scored a brilliant half-century against Netherlands, the right-hander held the fort at the other end against Ireland as captain Erasmus did the hard task. The combination of Erasmus and Wiese can be a formidable one. Probable XI Scotland: George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer (c), Matthew Cross (wk), Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Josh Davey, Safyaan Sharif, Bradley Wheal Namibia: Zane Green (wk), Craig Williams, Michael van Lingen, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Pikky Ya France, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz Fantasy XI Matthew Cross, Kyle Coetzer, George Munsey, Calum MacLeod, Gerhard Erasmus, David Wiese (C), Richie Berrington (VC), JJ Smit, Safyaan Sharif, Josh Davey, Bernard Scholtz

T20 World Cup | Erasmus, Wiese cruise Namibia past Ireland, create history by qualifying for Super 12

It was the biggest upset of the T20 World Cup 2021 yet as Associate nation Namibia knocked out Test-playing nation Ireland, beating them by eight wickets in a virtual qualifier. The victory ensured that Namibia, which qualified for a T20 World Cup for the first time ever, marched into Super 12, creating history for themselves. Experienced former South African international, David Wiese, who switched sides to play for Namibia in this World Cup was once again the hero for the Namibians, making a crucial 28 off just 14 balls with the bat, relieving skipper Gerhard Erasmus of the pressure of the required run rate. Erasmus himself scored the second-ever fifty for Namibia in a T20 World Cup and was the anchor of the chase with his brilliant 53 unbeaten of 49 balls, making the small chase of 126 an easy affair at the end. The chase didn’t really start well as opener Craig Williams was dismissed with the team score of 25 in the sixth over. In fact, the chase was going real slow for the first 11 overs as the Eagles could only make 54 and needed 72 from the last nine. When Weise entered in the 14th over, he started hitting the ball right from the word go and thus the match was finished with nine balls remaining. Earlier in the day, after winning the toss, Irish skipper Andrew Balbirnie decided to bat first and a great start from the openers with the team notching up 55 runs in the powerplay. However, losing both the openers in Kevin O’Brien and Paul Stirling in quick succession didn’t help the Irish cause apart from those two and skipper Balbirnie himself no other batter was able to cross the single-digit score. As a result, the men in green could only get to 125-8 in their 20 overs. Jan Frylinck and Wiese were the picks of the bowlers for the Namibian team as they took three and two wickets respectively. With this win, Namibia will now end up in Group 2 of the Super 12 alongside India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan and Scotland.

Somya Kapoor ∙ 20 Oct 2021

World T20 2021 | Creating genuine chances, Namibia, Ireland seek another step towards Super 12s

With a win and a defeat under their belt, it’s the NRR which is presently keeping Ireland a place above Namibia in Group A. But the two sides will now have a genuine opportunity to take another step towards the Super 12 stage. Well, Namibia would be riding high on confidence at the moment, courtesy David Wiese who played a blinder against Netherlands and helped his side etch their first World Cup win. Wiese along with captain Gerhard Erasmus helped Namibia come out of a tricky situation and eventually led them over the line. Ireland on the other side, just lost their way in the middle against Sri Lanka despite picking up early wickets. After reducing the Asian side to 8/3, the Irish bowlers were hammered around the park as Sri Lanka posted 171/7 in 20 overs. The misery just didn’t end here for Ireland as they never really got into the groove and were bundled out for 101 in the 19th over losing the match by a huge 70-run margin. So, now the equation is such that Namibia will be coming into this game on the back of a scintillating win while Ireland will be under some pressure not because they suffered a defeat against Sri Lanka but the way they lost it. The beginning of the clash was pretty fascinating for the Irish fans but as the game progressed, the graph just went down. Nevertheless, as mentioned above, both the sides have a genuine chance of giving themselves an opportunity and eye a Super 12 berth. Match Details Match: NAM vs IRE, 11th Match, Group A, ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2021 Date: Friday, October 22, 2021 Time: 3:30 PM Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Telecast: Star Sports Network Pitch Report The pitch in Sharjah might have some aid for the batsmen and with the kind of batting line ups that the two sides possess, high-voltage drama can be expected. So, if you win the toss, elect to bat first and try to post a big total on the board. Davie Wiese- An asset David Wiese probably put in all his experience at a time when it was most needed for Namibia. The right-hander just played a blinder of an innings and anchored the side to what wasn’t just their first World Cup win but probably the most important one till date. The team management would just want Wiese to continue what he did against Netherlands on Wednesday. But there are certain areas that the team needs to focus on. For starters, the bowling unit needs to pick wickets at regular intervals and prevent the opposition from cutting loose. Second, Namibia can’t just back upon Wiese or for that matter Erasmus with the bat. The other batters too need to chip in with some more runs and build partnerships so that the opposition isn’t able to dominate them at any given stage of the match. Ireland’s inconsistency with the bat There have already been two occasions when the Irish batting unit showed signs of concern. During the chase against Netherlands, they started off in a decent manner but lost a couple of wickets in quick succession only to get much-needed resistance from Paul Stirling and Gareth Delany who eventually helped the side chase down a target of 107 runs. But the issues were soon exposed when Ireland were once again chasing a target. This time they were up against a relatively better bowling attack and were after a much bigger target as well and as a result the batting order just witnessed a huge collapse. The Irish team never really made a return after losing early wickets and were comprehensively defeated in the end. The amount of cricket that some of the Ireland players have played, they now need to take the onus on themselves and hold the fort. Another important aspect is taking advantage of scalping early wickets. The Ireland bowlers did pick up wickets quite early in the innings but let the match slip away from their hands. Probable XI Namibia: Stephan Baard, Zane Green (wk), Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Michael van Lingen, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz Ireland: Paul Stirling, Kevin O Brien, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Gareth Delany, Curtis Campher, Harry Tector, Neil Rock (wk), Simi Singh, Mark Adair, Joshua Little, Craig Young CE Fantasy XI Neil Rock, Kevin O Brien (VC), Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Striling, Gareth Delany, Gerhard Erasmus, David Wiese (C), JJ Smit, Joshua Little, Mark Adair, Bernard Scholtz

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