Zampa probably our most important player in last 5 years: Mitch Marsh

Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh, in the aftermath of his side’s thumping win over Namibia, heaped praise on Adam Zampa, who on June 11 (Tuesday) became the first Australian to pick 100 T20I wickets. 

On the night, Australia sealed Super 8s qualification by bowling out Namibia for 72 (before chasing it down in just 34 balls) and it was Zampa who was the architect of the victory. The leggie, who was Player of the Match against England, picked four wickets to both become the highest wicket-taker for Australia in T20WC history, and also the first Australian to take 100 T20I wickets.

Marsh was full of praise for the 32-year-old, who he described as the side’s most important player of the past half a decade.

“If you look at his career, over the past four or five years, he is probably our most important player,” Marsh said of Zampa at the post-match presentation.

“He loves the big moment, the pressure and he is bowling beautifully at the moment.”

Australia were dialed-in from ball one, and Marsh lauded the side’s ‘professional’ performance against a Namibian unit that was listless on the night.

“I thought it was a great performance from our bowling team. It was a beautiful wicket, a bit of swing out there. A professional performance. Great to qualify for the Super Eights,” the Aussie skipper said.

In contrast, Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus was disappointed with both his side’s performance and intent. Namibia, on the night, managed only 17 in the powerplay and 27 at the end of 10 overs. Erasmus himself was one of the culprits, with the skipper taking 17 balls to get off the mark. 

“You cannot sit back against the best in the world - that is one thing we learnt tonight,” Erasmus said. 

“The skill gap is there but you can sort of close that by fighting fire with fire. We did not do that tonight. A good side like Australia will expose you if you are not willing to mentally step up on this level on a particular day.”

With the result tonight, Namibia have officially been eliminated from the 2024 T20WC, as they cannot match or get past Scotland’s tally of five points. ould not play well enough according to those conditions.

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