T20 World Cup 2022: Jan Frylinck speechless after Namibia's win over Sri Lanka
Namibia register surprising win against Sri Lanka to enter record books
T20 World Cup 2022: Namibia announce 16-man squad for the mega event in Australia
A tale of Richelieu Eagles that every cricket fanatic should know
Namibia, on their historical tour to Zimbabwe, recorded their first ever series win against a Test playing nation. They strived for history, coming into this historic tour at Bulawayo, one of cricket's favourite stories from the biggest T20 party in UAE last year.
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
World T20 2021 | In group of death, well balanced Namibia could turn out to be the dark horse
It is not often that a team making its debut in a World event is as strong and balanced as the current Namibian side is. The team is full of players who at their day could even be better than the best as far as Associate nations are concerned. With the inclusion of David Weiese, a name that has frequented T20 leagues across the world and is currently bowling like a beast, the Eagles would fancy themselves to cross one hurdle and finish with their best-ever performance in a World Cup. The last time a Namibian team was in the World Cup, was back in 2003 when World Cup was played in the African continent. While that side lost all its games, it surely did inspire kids back home to play the game. And in a country which focuses mainly on Rugby Union, Golf and Athletics, the 2003 Cricket World Cup was a breath of fresh air. But that wasn’t able to carry the team too far as it failed to make it to any other big tournament since. However, in 2018, after a disappointing World Cricket League 2 campaign, which saw them miss out on a spot at the Qualifier for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019, a wholesome change took place in Namibian Cricket and former Leicestershire coach Pierre de Bruyn was appointed as team’s head coach with former Proteas all-rounder Albie Morkel made his assistant. The team not only got back its ODI status after winning World Cricket League 2 next year but also received full-time contracts for the playing group. The winds of change were finally blowing and those winds took the team to the ICC T20 World Cup 2019 Qualifier in UAE. Namibia's road to World T20 2021 Having been left agonizingly behind in their last three qualifying campaigns for the T20 World Cups, the start that the Namibian team had wasn’t promising whatsoever and looked like it was going to be the same old case once again. But this team was different and it showed exactly why? After losing to the Netherlands and Papua New Guinea, the Gerhard Erasmus led side won four consecutive games to finish third in their group and book a match in the Playoffs Semi-Final. Namibia carried the momentum of the four wins in their Playoffs Semi-final game against Oman, which had had a stellar tournament until their last game in which they lost to Jersey and couldn’t get a direct qualification. Namibia rubbed salts in those Omani wounds as they beat the favourites by a huge margin of 54 runs to book their ticket to the T20 World Cup. It played two more games in the tournament against PNG and Ireland and lost both, but they were irrelevant as the Eagles had already made their flight. Post their qualifying campaign, the blue brigade have played three ODIs and six T20Is. While they won all T20Is, beating teams like UAE, Scotland and PNG, their two World Cup warm-up games have resulted in losses against Oman and Scotland. The David Wiese boost to a strong all-around group The biggest flex of this Nambvian team going into the World Cup is ait’s all-r0unders who could win the game for the team on any given day. While previously it had to be contained with JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck and young leg-spin bowling all-rounder Nicol Loftie-Eaton, it now also has in its arsenal, one of the finest weapons in form of former South African all-rounder David Weise. While Smit and Frylinck’s left arm bowling combined with spinner Bernard Scholtz makes a deadly left-arm combination, the two are also more than good enough with the bat having to their name half-centuries in T20Is and strike rates that are decent enough. In fact, Smit strikes at more than 150 and his sixes are a spectacle to watch. Add to that the impact of Wiese, who has taken 24 T20I and strikes at 143.52 in international T20Is, the Namibian all-round department suddenly becomes lethal. Apart from his international exposure against big-ticket teams, the 36-year-old’s experience of more than 260 T20Is, which he has played across all big leagues such as IPL, PSL, BBL and The Hundred, could very well be converted into wins in pressure situations. The ambitions This Namibian team has done some great things coming into the tournament and they are here to get to the second round as their biggest motivation. With the likes of Albie Morkel, David Weise and coach Pierre de Bruyn by their side, who have achieved great things earlier and know how to get off the cliff at the time of the pressure, the skipper Erasmus’ ‘big day’ motivation move might just take them past the qualifying round. Can they do it? For Namibia to qualify, the biggest hurdle is in the form of the Netherlands and Ireland because beating Sri Lanka might not be that easy, but it is not to say that they can’t beat them. The Eagles play their first game against Sri Lanka and learning from the mistakes that they make in this one, they could try and win the next two and make it to the Super 12. It is as simple as that. Although they have not beaten both Ireland and Netherlands in past, it does not mean that they can’t beat them. Namibia T20 World Cup Squad Gerhard Erasmus (c), Stephen Baard, Karl Birkenstock, Michau du Preez, Jan Frylinck, Zane Green, Nicol Lofie-Eaton, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo, JJ Smit, Ruben Trumpelmann, Michael van Lingen, David Wiese, Craig Williams, Picky Ya France Reserves: Mauritius Ngupita Namibia T20 World Cup fixtures 18 Oct Namibia v Sri Lanka 20 Oct Namibia v the Netherlands 22 Oct Namibia v Ireland
UAE Summer T20 Bash: A perfect warm-up for Ireland, Namibia, Scotland and PNG before World T20 2021
With the T20 World Cup 2021 first round around the corner, Emirates Cricket Board in partnership with Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, Cricket Namibia, and Cricket Papua New Guinea decided to host the Summer T20 Bash, a tournament that would allow the aforementioned teams some much-needed game time before they head into the all-important World Cup. The tournament, with no final or finalist, is basically like warm-up fixtures with the only difference being that they would be treated as international T20 games. It will be hosted at the single venue of ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City (Dubai) from Tuesday, October 5th through to Sunday, October 10th. In the series, the host nation the United Arab Emirates, who have actually not qualified for the T20 World Cup 2021, will play four games, three against Ireland, and one against Namibia. In the other three games in this seven-match series, Scotland will play two games, one each against Papua New Guinea and Namibia, while Papua New Guinea & Namibia will play among themselves once as well. Thus every team in this tournament will get a hands-on experience of at least two games. Mubashshir Usmani, General Secretary Emirates Cricket Board was happy to announce this much-needed tournament in the light of the fact that the teams competing in the first round would hardly have warm-up games leading up to the tournament. “Emirates Cricket Board is very pleased to welcome Ireland, Scotland, Namibia and Papua New Guinea to the UAE and we are delighted to host the ‘DafaNews Summer T20 Bash’. This is a great opportunity for these participating teams to fine-tune their T20 skills as they approach their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup matches, and for our (UAE) team to gain experience from once again facing an ICC test-nation who will be highly motivated in putting their skills and experience on display. We look forward to a highly competitive series on home soil,” said Usmani in a press release by ECB. Tournament so far The tournament which started on October five has turned out to be an exciting affair with Sony Ten even broadcasting games involving UAE. 1st Match; UAE vs Namibia, October 05th In the first match, Namibia, who would be competing in Group A in the first round alongside Netherlands, Ireland and Sri Lanka, turned out to be too good for the hosts UAE. They won the match by 17 runs courtesy of a stellar bowling performance by Jan Nicolaas Frylinck, who picked up six wickets with his left-arm medium-fast to restrict the hosts to 142-9, thereby handing them a 17 run defeat. Check full scorecard here 2nd Match: UAE vs Ireland, October 07th In the second game of the tournament, hosts UAE were once again on the receiving end, but this time at the hands of Ireland. Once again it was some brilliant bowling performance from Ireland which restricted the home side to only 123-7 in the allotted 20 overs. Curtis Campher picked three wickets while experienced Mark Adair and young leggie Benjamin White picked two wickets each. The chase then turned out to be a cakewalk for the Irish as Pual Stirling and Kevin O’Brien put up 90 for the first wicket in just 13 overs. Even as they fell and so did skipper Andrew Balbarnie in a space of 25 runs, which took 36 balls to complete and got people thinking that the match might stretch to the last over, but it wasn’t to be as Campher hit two fours in a row to finish the game in the 19th over itself. Check full scorecard here 3rd Match: UAE vs Ireland, October 08th It took matches, but UAE did come back eventually in the third game and beat much higher-ranked Ireland to salvage some pride of playing at home. The victory was even sweeter because it was UAE’s biggest margin of victory against a test playing nation. The Irish were bowled out for 109 in 18.4 overs chasing a total of 163. For UAE, right-arm leg break bowler, born in Chennai, India, Kartik Meiyappan was the hero of the game, picking four crucial wickets including those of well set Campher and George Delany. In batting, Chirag Suri and Basil Hameed scored important runs for the hosts. In fact, Suri scored his fourth T20I fifty, making 51 off 44. Check full scorecard here 4th Match: Scotland vs PNG, October 08th Playing their first game of the tournament, the Scottish team showed no mercy whatsoever in bashing Papua New Guinea by eight wickets with 14 balls remaining. It was a proper show of inter from the Scottish team which meant business even in its warm-up game against neighbours Ireland earlier this week, defeating them by five wickets. In this game, PNG scored 154 in their 20 overs courtesy of a fifty by skipper Assad Vala and some late charge by Sese Bau who scored 38 off 26 balls. Scotland, on the other hand, didn’t skip a beat. With fifty from George Munsey and an unbeaten 41 from Richie Berrington, they reached the target in the 18th over itself. Check full scorecard here In the remaining two days, three matches will be played including Scotland vs Namibia on October 9th, UAE vs Ireland and PNG vs Namibia on October 11.