T20 World Cup: New Zealand eyes big win against Namibia after Scotland scare

New Zealand will look to inch closer the semifinals by beating fifth-placed Namibia in Sharjah on Friday.

After a scarring by Scotland, New Zealand’s bowlers will hope to perform better against Namibia.

New Zealand will look to inch closer to the semifinals by beating Namibia here on Friday.

While Namibia lost its last encounter to Pakistan, New Zealand recorded two successive victories, defeating India by eight wickets and then edging past Scotland. The Kiwis are currently placed third with four points and a win against Namibia will take them closer to the second semifinal spot from Group 2.

Despite a fine performance against India, New Zealand’s bowling has been patchy overall.

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The likes of left-arm speedster Trent Boult, the experienced Tim Southee and Adam Milne will be eyeing a much-better show against Namibia after an ordinary outing against Scotland, while the spin duo of Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner will look to spin their web on the opposition.

“We were patchy with the ball but we need to move on. Credit to Scotland for the way they played and hit the ball out of the park. We were tested and we need to learn from this,” captain Williamson said after the 16-run win against Scotland .

The biggest positive for the Kiwis is the return to form of flamboyant opener Martin Guptill, who blazed his way to 93 off just 56 balls. He will need more support from opening partner Daryl Mitchell and Williamson.

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Placed fifth with just two points, Namibia, other other hand, has nothing to lose. Namibia gave a spirited fight against Pakistan and will be looking for an encore. Namibia batters have got starts but they will need to convert them into big scores if the minnow.

Namibia is heavily reliant on David Wiese but others also need to chip in.

• New Zealand : Kane Williamson (c), Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway, Tim Seifert (wk), James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Mark Chapman, Adam Milne, Kyle Jamieson, Todd Astle.
• Namibia : Gerhard Erasmus (c), Stephan Baard, JJ Smit, Karl Birkenstock, Jan Frylinck, Ben Shikongo, Bernard Scholtz, Craig Williams, Michael van Lingen, Ruben Trumpelmann, Zane Green, David Wiese, Pikky Ya France, Michau du Preez, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton.
• Match starts at 3.30 PM IST.