Namibia, Netherlands Look for Batting Upturn to Stay Alive

An Overview

The severity of the situation will catch up with either the Netherlands or Namibia on Wednesday. The match will significantly determine which team will have their dream of winning the T20 World Cup shattered. This is the seriousness of the first round of the T20 World Cup in which even two losses can put you at high risk. And there is even more pressure on the team to rise from the initial stumble.

The Netherlands and Namibia both had a poor start in the competition; the Netherlands succumbed under the hat trick of Curtis Campher, where he had two four-wicket hauls in four balls. The bowler eliminated their middle order and allowed Ireland to easily chase a modest score with 29 balls left. This margin means that the Netherlands had poor net run rates.

On the other hand, Namibia’s full team were out with their lowest score in the T20I. This gave Sri Lanka an easy target to chase, which only took them 14 overs.

There will be more expectations from the Dutch who had won the qualifying event two years back, and the squad holds more experience in the tournament. However, Namibia had a lot of expectations from themselves and were disappointed with the kind of performance that they had shown in the first world cup match after 18 years. Since they had such a long preparatory period, the team sure have disappointed themselves and the fans.

Apart from the big picture, there are some important sub-plots to the whole scenario. David Wise from Namibia and Roelof van der Merwe from the Netherlands once played for the same domestic team of South Africa. They were both a part of Titans, so fans can expect some intensity as they work to prolong their position at the T20 World Cup.

Form of Both the Teams

In the last five matches that Namibia played, the team lost two matches and won three. On the other hand, the Netherlands won two out of the last five matches that they played, lost two, and one match ended in a tie.

Craig Williams’s reliable performance proved helpful for Namibia in the match against Sri Lanka. He made a comeback into the tournament with an impressive run score. The player has scored four half-centuries in the recent five T20I innings that he has played. In these matches, Williams was up against PNG, Scotland, the UAE and Uganda and performed with an average of 41.14 in the T20 international format this year.

If Namibia want to improve their chances of winning in the upcoming matches, the team need to improve their batting performance. And for that, they need another batsman to show good runs along with Namibia. The middle order that includes Gerhard Erasmus (captain) and Wiese could make a solid impact.

The T20 caps of the Netherlands stand at 638, owing to Van der Merwe and Ryan ten Doeschate. However, both players have not had the opening that they and their fans were looking forward to. They have recorded several ducks post becoming the second and fourth victims of four-wicket burst or Campher, even though Merwe was the most expensive bowler for the team that day. Doeschate is all prepared to retire after this tournament, and Van der Merwe may contemplate doing the same. Nevertheless, both of them will be focused on scoring good runs for their teams.

Namibia Squad

Even with the poor performance of the last match, Namibia will stick to their playing XI. The squad includes:

1. Gerhard Erasmus (captain)
2. Zane Green (wicket-keeper)
3. Stephan Baard
4. Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton
5. Jan Frylinck
6. JJ Smit
7. David Wiese
8. Bernard Scholtz
9. Pikky Ya France
10. Ruben Trumpelmann
11. Craig Williams

Netherlands Squad

The Netherland have made some changes in the playing XI with the hope of improving their performance in the upcoming matches. The team have made room for Stephan Myburgh, who previously played for the Northerns. The veteran player may leverage his experience on the field and help the team boost their performance. Furthermore, the team may be gambling with leaving Bas de Leede or Ben Cooper out who have not played in the format since 2019. They are also considering bringing Timm van der Gugten in place of Brandon Glover. Here’s a playing XI for the Netherlands:

1. Pieter Seelar (captain)
2. Scott Edwards (wicket-keeper)
3. Ryan ten Doeschate
4. Colin Ackermann
5. Bas de Leede
6. Ben Cooper/Stephan Myburgh
7. Max O’Dowd
8. Brandon Glover
9. Fred Klaasen
10. Logan van Beek
11. Roelof van der Merwe

Sheikh Zayed Stadium Abu Dhabi – Pitch Report

The stadium will be hosting eight matches of the T20I World Cup, including a semifinal match. According to the performances so far, the team electing to bowl first can take better advantage of the conditions. Out of the 54 matches that have been played on this ground, 31 matches have been won by teams electing to bowl first. The pitch provides benefits to bowlers.

Fast bowlers and spinners can get a lot of wickets here. Sometimes the ball holds up, which makes it difficult to judge the speed. It makes it difficult for batsmen to take their shots. Furthermore, the Abu Dhabi field does leave much room for scoring as we have not witnessed any high scores so far. In the last three matches, no team was able to touch the 130-run target. Here is the scoring pattern:

• Above 190 – 3
• A score Above 170 but below 189 – 4
• A score above 150 and below 169 – 10
• A score below 150 – 36

T20 International Statistics:

• Overall matches: 54
• Match won by bowling first: 31
• Match won by batting first: 23
• Average 1st innings score: 138
• Average second innings score: 128
• Highest match total: 225/7 in 20 overs in Ireland vs. Afghanistan
• Lowest match total: 87/10 in 18.3 overs in HK vs. Oman
• Highest score chased: 166/6 in 19.4 overs by HK vs. Oman
• Lowest defending score: 129/6 in 20 overs in England vs. Pakistan