Following their crushing victory over Namibia (NAM), Team England (ENG) appears to have had its nervous stay at the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 extended by a few hours. Notably, North Sound in Antigua hosted the match on Sunday, June 16.
Namibia requested England to bat first after winning the toss, however the match was disrupted by rain. The Jos Buttler-led team appeared to have benefited from the decision at first because they were reeling at 13/2 after only 13 balls. But Jonny Bairstow (31 off 18 balls) and Harry Brook (47* off 20 balls) continued to raise the stakes and play some spectacular cricket to produce a formidable total of 122/5. Furthermore, a last over of 21 runs by Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone put the icing on the cake.
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Remarkably, Namibia adopted a similar strategy and launched the run chase with a vengeance. While Nikolaas Davin was ruled out due to a retired injury, opener Michael van Lingen attempted to hold one end with a watchful knock of 33 off 29 runs. The English bowlers were hitherto unsettled by the explosive all-rounder David Wiese, who made a brilliant cameo of 27 off 12 balls. However, Namibia ended up 41 runs short using the Duckworth Louis (DLS) method. Notably, rain stopped the game during England’s batting innings, reducing it to 10 overs.
Harry Brook, Player of the Match:
“There was a lot of anxiety going around. Thankfully it stopped and we got a game. We took a bit of information from batting, Toppers started beautifully with his height. It was tough against the big boys. Facing spin in the middle was tough, didn’t know how it would come out of the pitch, plinking into the gap for twos so I was knackered. But Jonny was banging it, he batted beautifully.”
Gerhard Erasmus, Losing Captain:
“It was a steep chase, but felt bowling first was the right way to go. Wiese doesn’t want to open, next time we’d get him in earlier, but unfortunately it was his last game, a great moment in his last game. Massive impact, in terms of the level of cricket he brought to our circle, inspired us to new heights. On-field success have to be disappointed, but coming to international events and the exposure gained is gold dust. Definitely this every time you get this exposure you get better. Definitely can’t hide behind the fact we need to play more.”
Jos Buttler, Winning Captain:
“A big relief, a stressful day, but we put in a good performance, well prepared when we did play, and played well. After I got out, thought 85-90 might be a good score, the way it was sticking in the wicket, but Bairstow and Brook a good partnership. Class players, not much time in the middle but they created something. We’ve had two games rained off in England and the Scotland game, but we’ve done all we can do.”
India
