RECAP
Follow UsNamibia make a dream start with the ball
Bowlers generally get belted from ball one in rain-shortened games, but Namibia made a near-perfect start with the ball, reducing England to 13/2 in 2.1 overs. David Wiese and Ruben Trumpelmann made use of the tackiness of the surface to get rid of the two in-form England openers.
Bairstow injects momentum into England’s innings
At 19/2 in 3.3 overs, England’s innings was going nowhere. And then Bairstow clobbered a 4 & 6 against Bernard Scholtz to enable the Three Lions’ innings to take off. Bairstow eventually finished with 31 off 18 balls to post his highest ever individual score in T20 World Cups.
Not a record to be proud of, but the big man stepped up on the day!
Harry Brook showcases his class
Bairstow’s innings kick-started England’s surge but it was Brook who propelled the Three Lions to a winning total. The right-hander, playing just his fourth T20 since December 2023, an unbeaten 47* off 20 balls in a Player of the Match performance.
Astonishingly, 30 off Brook’s 47 runs came against one bowler, Jack Brassell, against whom he had a SR of 300.0.
Moeen and Livingstone - small role, big impact
Between them, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone just faced 10 balls. In those 10 balls, however, they smashed four sixes and accumulated a total of 29 runs. Their cameos helped push England’s total to 122/5. Talk about ‘small role, big impact’.
Nikolaas Davin retires out (but to no avail for Namibia)
It was a regulation victory for England as Namibia fell short by 41 runs, but something very interesting happened as opener Nikolaas Davin retired out after six overs, while batting on 18 (16). He was replaced by David Wiese, who smashed 27 off 12 balls. Davin, in the process, became the first ever batter in T20WC history to retire out.
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