Australia v Namibia: All you need to know

10 Jun 2024 Josh Schonafinger, in Antigua

Get the lowdown on the Aussies' next group match as they face the African nation for the first time in the format

Match Facts

Who: Australia v Namibia

When: Wednesday June 12. Coin toss at 10:00am AEST, first ball at 10:30am AEST (Tuesday June 11, 8:30pm local time)

Where: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua

How to watch: Amazon Prime Video

Officials: Nitin Menon and Rashid Riaz (standing), Langton Rusere (third), Allahuddien Palekar (fourth).

Live scores: Australia v Namibia match centre

The squads

Australia: Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Reserves: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short

Australia welcomed Pat Cummins back into their XI for the win over England and he looks a vastly improved T20 bowler after his bumper IPL with Sunrisers Hyderabad. Reserve players Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short have finally linked up with the squad but they can't play unless there is a tournament-ending injury to one of the main squad.

Namibia: Gerhard Erasmus (c), Zane Green, Michael Van Lingen, Dylan Leicher, Ruben Trumpelmann, Jack Brassell, Ben Shikongo, Tangeni Lungameni, Niko Davin, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, JP Kotze, David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Malan Kruger, PD Blignaut

Namibia lost their captain Jan Loftie-Eaton on the eve of the tournament after he was stood down due to disciplinary issues. Allrounder Gerhard Erasmus has taken charge of the squad and is one of the team's most important players, batting in the top order and regularly bowling his four overs. They will also rely heavily on former South Africa international David Wiese and cult hero fast bowler Ruben Trumpelmann.

Feature

Doctor Fantastic: The incredible tale of Namibia's van Vuuren

How to watch

It's a new era for watching World Cup cricket in Australia.

All 55 matches of the tournament will be shown live on Prime Video online subscription streaming service after the internet giant recently acquired the Aussie broadcast rights for all ICC events for the next four years. There will be no free-to-air Australian broadcast of this World Cup as a result.

For more detail, or to sign up for Prime Video, click here.

How to recap

Everything you could need will be right here on cricket.com.au.

We'll have a live blog in play during the match, so even if you miss some live play you can catch up on the big moments as they happened.

Interviews, highlights and The Unplayable Podcast will all review what took place and keep you informed on the key takeaways.

Local knowledge

Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is one of the few venues in the West Indies where the difference between the economy rates of the spinners and the quicks is negligible. Most grounds heavily favour the slower bowlers in that regard but the quicks have a good record in Antigua, the home of legendary fast bowler Sir Curtly Ambrose.

Australia have never played a T20 at the ground, which was built for the 2007 ODI World Cup. Their last match at the Antiguan venue was the drawn second Test in 2008, while they also played a couple of ODIs there the year before.

Namibia haven't played a T20I here either.

Aussie bowlers fast becoming middle-overs masters

Possible starting XIs

Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Namibia: JP Kotze, Niko Davin, Jan Frylinck, Gerhard Erasmus (c), Malan Kruger, Zane Green (wk), David Wiese, Ruben Trumpelmann, JJ Smit, Bernard Scholtz, Tangeni Lungameni

Australia coach Andrew McDonald was firm telling reporters on match eve that his side wouldn't be lifting their foot off the gas but would "play the strongest XI for the opposition and the conditions". That leaves him a little wiggle room to potentially rotate another of the quicks, with Nathan Ellis itching for another crack.

Namibia have tried both JP Kotze and Michael van Lingen as Niko Davin's opening partner, and both made ducks against Scotland and Oman respectively. That was their only change to the XI between matches in what appears to be a very settled line-up.

Aussies chase the 'Q', say English hijinks won't ensue

Players to watch

It's been a terrific start to the World Cup for Josh Hazlewood, who helped turn the game against England with a miserly two overs in the middle of the innings. He was also Australia's most economical against Oman, conceding only 21 runs from his four overs.

And going back a little further, he was all over Namibia in the warm-up match in Trinidad, bowling three straight maidens to finish with the absurd figures of 2-5 from four overs.

For Namibia, it's hard to go past 39-year-old David Wiese, a man who made his T20 debut back in 2008 and has represented South Africa 20 times in the format. He was player of the match for his three-wicket haul and Super Over exploits against Oman, and Namibia will absolutely need some of his late-order hitting and canny bowling if they are to cause an almighty upset.

Wade reprimanded by ICC but escapes suspension

Recent form

Past 10 T20 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: no result

Australia: WWWWLWWLL

Australia played close to a perfect match in their last outing against England, posting a big total before shutting out a powerful batting line up. The manner of the victory certainly impressed coach McDonald, who said it was exactly what the coaching staff had discussed.

"The way the boys played against England, that's the style we want to play," he said. "The guys committed to that and if we fail playing that way, then we're comfortable with that."

Namibia: LWWWLLWWWL

Namibia have showed plenty of signs that they belong at a global tournament, despite their modest world ranking of 14 in the format. Experienced duo Wiese and Trumpelmann delivered in the Super Over victory against Oman, signifying the country's first win in the main stage of a T20 World Cup. They fell short against Scotland though, only posting 159 runs which the Scots chased down with nine balls to spare.

World Cup standings

Last time they met

Australia and Namibia have never met in a men's T20 international however they did face each other in the warm-up match in Trinidad a fortnight ago. Namibia batted first and made 119, but Australia chased it down after just 10 overs. David Warner and Tim David were in the runs while Hazlewood proved nearly impossible to play with the new ball.

Nine-man Australia blow out the cobwebs in first warm-up

Head-to-head

n/a

Rapid stats

Namibia (13) are currently the third-highest ranked African nation, behind South Africa (7) and Zimbabwe (12)
Adam Zampa has now taken 96 T20I wickets; he needs four more to become the first Australian man to reach 100 in the format. Megan Schutt (136) and Ellyse Perry (126) have passed the mark in women's T20Is
Of all the bowlers in the Aussie squad, Mitch Marsh has the best record in T20s in the West Indies, after he took eight wickets at 11 apiece during the 2021 five-match series in the Caribbean. However, his chances of bowling against Namibia are "very slim", according to his coach
Left-arm quick Ruben Trumpelmann has been electric with the new ball this tournament, with three of his five wickets coming in the Powerplay.

Where to next?

Australia are on the move again, this time jetting off to St Lucia for their final Group B match against Scotland. Namibia stay in Antigua and will face England at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Australia's squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa