AUS vs NAM T20 World Cup Warm Up Match Highlights: Nine-Man Australia Dominates Namibia, Secures Seven-Wicket Victory
Despite having only nine available first-team players, the Australian cricket team cruised to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Namibia in their first ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up match at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad on Wednesday.
With Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell, and Cameron Green given extra time off to recover from their engagements in the Indian Premier League, Australia fielded only nine players on Wednesday.
Captain Mitch Marsh won the toss and elected to field. To make up the numbers, two members of the Australian support staff stepped in: selection chief George Bailey, a former Australia captain now 41, and fielding coach Andre Borovec, a 46-year-old former wicketkeeper. Later, batting coach Brad Hodge and head coach Andrew McDonald took on fielding duties when Marsh and Josh Hazlewood spent time off the field.
The handicap hardly hindered Australia, the world No. 2 T20 team, as they comfortably dispatched world No. 14 Namibia.
Hazlewood set the tone with an incredible opening spell, picking up two wickets without conceding a single run in his first three overs. The Aussie pacer, playing his first match in three months, finished with figures of 2/5 in his four overs, three of which were maidens.
Spinner Adam Zampa maintained the pressure during the middle overs, finishing with figures of 3/25. Nathan Ellis and Tim David also contributed, taking a wicket each.
Namibia showed some late resistance, thanks to wicketkeeper Zane Green (38 off 30), Malan Green (18 off 11), and David Wiese (12 off 13), managing to post a total of 119/9 in their allotted 20 overs.
In response, Australia got off to a solid start but faced an early setback when captain Mitch Marsh was run out in the fourth over after a mix-up. Josh Inglis (5 off 4) fell cheaply as well. However, a brilliant innings from David Warner (54* off 21) ensured Australia reached their target with 10 overs to spare. Warner was well-supported by Tim David (23 off 16) and Matthew Wade (12 off 5).
Australia, the 2021 T20 World Cup champions, will play another warm-up match against the West Indies on Friday before starting their tournament campaign against Oman in Barbados on June 5.
Australia is drawn in Group B for this year’s World T20, alongside two-time champions England, Namibia, Scotland, and Oman.
Australia vs Namibia T20 World Cup 2024 Brief Scores:
Namibia 119/9 in 20 overs (Zane Green 38; Adam Zampa 3/25, Josh Hazlewood 2/5) lost to Australia 123/3 in 10 overs (David Warner 54*, Bernard Scholtz 2/16) by seven wickets.
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