Eagles bow out with 41-run defeat 

The Namibian Eagles bowed out of the T20 World Cup with a 41-run defeat against England on Saturday.

England’s victory allowed them to sneak into the Super 8 stage at the expense of Scotland, who later lost byfive wickets to Australia, but for Namibia, it brought an end to a disappointing campaign that only saw one win against Oman. 

In a rain-affected match, Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus sent England in to bat after winning the toss, and Namibia got off to a fine start when Ruben Trumpelmann bowled England captain Jos Buttler for a duck in the second over. 

In the next over David Wiese dismissed Phil Salt for 11, but Harry Brook joined Jonny Bairstow and put England in charge with a 56-run partnership off only 30 balls.

Bernard Scholtz got the breakthrough, dismissing Bairstow for 31 off 18 balls (3×4, 2×6), but Brook continued to attack the bowling to take England to a sizeable 122/5 off their 10 overs. 

Brook remained not out on 47 which came off only 20 balls (4×4, 2×6), while Moeen Ali scored 16 and Liam Livingstone 13. 

For Namibia, Trumpelmann took two wickets for 31 runs, Wiese 1/6 and Scholtz 1/24. 

Opening batters Niko Davin and Michael van Lingen gave Namibia a solid start in their chase, but the scoring was too slow as they started to drop behind the required run rate. 

Maybe with this in mind, Davin was the first to go, as he became the first batter to be dismissed ‘retired out’ in T20 World Cup history, for 18 off 16 balls (1×4, 1×6). 

Wiese and Van Lingen took the attack to England, putting on 36 off 18 balls for the second wicket, before Van Lingen was caught in the deep off Chris Jordan’s bowling for 33 off 29 balls (1×4, 3×6). 

Wiese, playing in his final match for Namibia, added 27 off only 12 balls (2×4, 2×6), but Namibia never came close to the target as they reached 84/3 off their 10 overs. 

For England, Jordan took one wicket for 19 runs and Jofra Archer 1/15. 

Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus said despite the defeat, they had gained a lot of experience. 

“It was a steep chase, but I felt bowling first was the right way to go. (David) Wiese doesn’t want to open, next time we’d get him in earlier, but unfortunately it was his last game, a great moment in his last game. He has made a massive impact, in terms of the level of cricket he brought to our circle, and inspired us to new heights. We have to be disappointed with our on-field success, but coming to international events and the exposure gained is gold dust. Every time you get this exposure you get better, but we definitely can’t hide behind the fact we need to play more (matches at this level).”

England captain Buttler said he was relieved with the win.

“It’s a big relief – it was a stressful day, but we put in a good performance, we were well prepared when we did play, and played well. After I got out, I thought 85-90 might be a good score, the way it was sticking in the wicket, but Bairstow and Brook had a good partnership. They are class players, they didnt have much time in the middle but they created something,” he said.