Namibia and Netherlands will battle it out in a must-win scenario during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Both teams come after facing heavy losses and a loss here would virtually end the team’s campaign.
Namibia folded to 96 runs in the first match in a poor batting effort. Craig Williams top-scored with 29 while captain Gerhard Erasmus got to 20, otherwise, the rest of the batting stood no chance against the Sri Lankan seamers. The bowling turned out to be much better, with Bernard Scholtz showing his terrific slow-left arm spin bowling. However, the runs on the board didn’t help the cause.
The Netherlands also faltered for a paltry 106 runs and only opener Max O’Dowd had some control over the innings, making 51 runs in 47 deliveries. The team also got blown away by seamers and had no answer for either Mark Adair or Curtis Campher.
Like Namibia, the bowling did its best, especially Fred Klaasen and Logan van Beek holding their ends well, the former claimed one wicket for 18 runs in three overs, while van Beek gave just 14 runs in three overs. Spinners Brandon Glover and Pieter Seelaar also bowled well but the bowlers didn’t have much to defend.
How can the two teams recover from such a loss? The Netherlands must not play flat-footed as they did in the last game and look to use their feet. Meanwhile, Namibia needs more from the impact players like David Wiese, opener Stephen Baard, and Zane Green at the top. The clock is ticking for both teams and this is surely a crisis situation.