North Sound (Antigua)
Living up to the favourites tag with two consecutive wins, a confident Australia will aim to secure a Super Eight berth when it faces lower-ranked Namibia in its Group B T20 World Cup clash here on Wednesday.
Australia fired in unison to become the first team in this edition of the tournament to score 200-plus runs in a one-sided 36-run win over arch-rivals England in the team’s last group league match.
It was Australia’s second win from as many matches, having started off with a 39-run triumph over Oman. Beating Nambia will be enough for the 2021 title winners to make the cut before they take on Scotland in its concluding Group B league fixture.
Scotland leads the table with five points and along with Australia, is firmly ahead in the race to make the Super Eight at the expense of defending champions England who has one point from two matches. Its opening game against Scotland was a washout.
Australia defeated Namibia by seven wickets after restricting its opponents to 119/9 in their only T20 meeting, albeit in a warm-up game two weeks back.
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Playing his last World Cup for Australia, David Warner has been in splendid form with one half century and it was his 16-ball 39 that set the tone for their 201/7 against England. Warner incidentally scored a fifty in the warm-up against Namibia as well. He has 97 runs in the tournament at a fine strike rate of 141.79.
Warner’s opening partner Travis Head has also been at his explosive best and the duo will look to give the team a fiery start.
Namibia will expect their veteran all-rounder David Wiese to step up after he starred in their Super-Over win against Oman. The globe-trotting all-rounder has the experience of facing Australia four times in T20Is during his stint with South Africa.
Left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz, who has been tidy conceding just one four and one six in his eight overs, will also look to make an impact.
Teams:
Sri Lanka in must win clash vs Nepal
The 2014 champion Sri Lanka’s campaign has gone terribly haywire after defeats to South Africa and it is now faced with a do-or-die clash against Nepal in a group D fixture in Lauderhill, Florida.
Nepal, on the other hand, lost to the Netherlands by six wickets in its only match so far. South Africa has already qualified to the Super Eight following the side’s nervy win over Bangladesh.
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A win for the Wanindu Hasaranga-led side will further heat up the race for the second spot with Bangladesh, Netherlands, and Nepal also in the reckoning. For that to happen, the onus will be on the batters. A loss, on the other hand, would mean curtains for Sri Lanka.
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