RESULT
36th Match, Group 2, Sharjah, November 05, 2021, ICC Men's T20 World Cup
(20 ov, T:164) 111/7

New Zealand won by 52 runs

Player Of The Match
35* (23) & 1/6
james-neesham
Cricinfo's MVP
69.34 ptsImpact List
james-neesham
Updated 05-Nov-2021 • Published 05-Nov-2021

As it happened - Namibia vs New Zealand, Men's T20 World Cup, Super 12s

By Shashank Kishore

It's all over

The stranglehold was on. Namibia’s unheralded attack saw off one Kiwi threat after another. Martin Guptill: no elevation. Daryl Mitchell: deceived in flight. Kane Williamson: bowled. Devon Conway: run out. New Zealand were plodding along nervously at 96 for 4 after 16 overs. Another wicket there and the Namibians would’ve jumped out of their chairs, along with a billion Indians.
Then a proper choke by spin gave way to a real shellacking as Glenn Phillips and James Neesham got stuck into the fast bowlers. The last six overs went for 76, the most by a team in the death overs this tournament, New Zealand posted 164 and Namibia never recovered.
Namibia are now officially knocked out, while New Zealand need another big push to see off Afghanistan if they’re to make the semi-finals without net run rate coming into the picture.
9
9
12
7

Neck and Neck after 16 overs

New Zealand were 96 for 4. Namibia are 94 for 4. The last four went for 67, which could be the difference in the game. Namibia have to hit the most runs in the death overs of this World Cup to win it from here. Without David Wiese, you'd think they've lost one batter capable of giving it a proper whack. Looking difficult for the Namibians.
2
5
3
5

Sodhi cops a blow on the head

The ball burst through his hands to hit the forehead as Wiese drilled a full delivery. He was in pain, was attended to by the physio but eventually completed the remaining five deliveries of his second over.
Vinayakk also makes an excellent point. "One of the things that this camera angle shows is the sightscreen for a bowler. (I think Murali Kartik speaks about it) While batters take their time to get it right, bowlers have no option but to bowl with an advertisement in the background. Can't imagine it helps sighting."
3
5
1
9

One brings two for New Zealand

2
W
1
1
1
1
W
1
1
1
The openers are gone. First, Neesham struck to remove van Lingen. Alan Gardner our ball-by-ball described it as: "Bowled him, neck and crop! Neesham rascals one straight through van Lingen as he swipes across the line... touch short, scrambled seam and it skids on fiendishly to clatter middle and leg. The batter collapses to his haunches and inspects the damage."
That was followed by a Santner beauty to Baard. Drift, sharp turn across the face of the bat, bounce and bowled.
6
2
2
4

Namibia set base

In trying to preserve wickets, there was a sense Namibia were being way too conservative. But Baard and Lingen have picked pace in the last two overs of the Powerplay. From no boundaries in the first four overs, they've now hit three fours and a six. They're 36/0 in six. This is the highest opening stand in the competition. Could they have gone harder? They will now have to tackle Santner and Sodhi. Big eight overs.
5
4
4
4

76 The partnership between Phillips and Neesham off just 36 balls. It has given New Zealand a terrific finish
17
15
16
29

Neesham, Phillips with the finishing kick

2
2
6
1
6
4
4
6
1
2
1
An expensive end to Wiese's spell. He went for an offcutter on the stumps, Phillips backed away and carved it over deep extra cover. He went for an off-cutter away from the batter's arc but missed his length and saw Neesham wallop it over long-on. Then he thought wide yorker with point and short third is a good option, but saw Neesham bisect those two. Suddenly, the floodgate seems to have opened. Trumpelmann followed that with two length balls that disappeared for 10. From looking good to get 135, New Zealand finish with 38 more. Namibia need 164 for their second win of the Super 12s.
10
12
4
20

The Erasmus impact

Prior to this game, Gerhard Erasmus has bowled 30 overs in 28 T20Is, averaging one over and a bit per game. Today alone, his current figures read 3-0-8-1 that has gone a long way in ensuring a massive slowdown for the Kiwis. The run rate has gone below six, with batters struggling to force the ace on a two-paced surface. Erasmus was rewarded with the massive strike of Williamson, who chopped on even as he expected the ball to come on a lot faster. Overs 10-16 have produced 34 runs for the loss of Williamson and Conway. New Zealand 96/4.
12
11
5
3

Namibia attempt spin stifle

W
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
4
1
1lb
1
1
1
1
1
Just the one boundary between overs 6-10. After a solid Powerplay, Namibia have slowed things down. The wicket of Mitchell, slicing a lofted hit to deep cover, has brought out Devon Conway. In him and Williamson, New Zealand possibly have two of their best players of spin for the middle overs. Ain't necessarily a bad thing for them. Namibia need one more wicket quickly to put the cat among the pigeons.
7
8
5
3

Namibia take the pace off

Four overs: one spin, three pace. But the faster men have quickly realised taking the pace off is the way to go. They've bowled cross seam, cutters into the pitch and slower deliveries. Anything but seam-up the traditional way. There has been no swing on offer, both Guptill and Mitchell happy to hit through the line without a worry. This is by no means a rollicking start, but yet a very good one for New Zealand. On tracks like these, sometimes you can aim way too high and finish 20 short. New Zealand appear to be setting themselves up for a big one. First ball of the fifth yields a big strike. Guptill picks out mid-off and David Wiese strikes for Namibia.
4
4
3
3

The Net Run Rate situation explained

If New Zealand score 180, and win by 60 runs against Namibia, their NRR will be 1.391. However, even a one-run loss (chasing 150) against Afghanistan will reduce their rate to 1.094. That is an NRR that India can surpass with big wins in their last two games. New Zealand can avoid all that NRR discussion if they win their last two games and finish on eight points.
10
8
7
4

Namibia opt to bowl

Gerhard Erasmus wins the toss and Namibia will bowl. "The pitch looks good and small dimensions make it difficult to defend," reasons Erasmus. They've made two changes. Jan Frylinck is out because of dehydration. Shikongo is out as well. Birkenstock and Scholtz are in. New Zealand are unchanged.
3
2
4
2

New Zealand's gruelling schedule

After their opening-game loss to Pakistan, New Zealand had a five-day break before the India game, but the relentless schedule in the second half left them with three games in five days. They played Scotland in Dubai on Wednesday. Today, they're in Sharjah to take on Namibia, and then will head over down the Sheikh Zayed Road to Abu Dhabi to take on Afghanistan on Sunday.
Afghanistan, meanwhile, have played their last two matches in Abu Dhabi, and have a three-day rest before taking on New Zealand at the same venue. Will they overcome travel fatigue? Yes, there ain't any internal flights, but there ain't been much time to recover between games either. Martin Guptill admitted to being "cooked" by the heat after the previous game. Wonder if the heat factor could prompt a couple of changes here. The toss isn't too far away.
1
3
1

Namibia's chance to get noticed

A billion Indian fans will wildly be rooting for Namibia this afternoon as they take on New Zealand. Namibia, who started the Super 12s with a win over Scotland, have shown massive improvement along the way. Williamson's men can control their fate by winning the next two and avoiding any brush with the calculators, but they'll be the first to admit this game's a bit of a banana skin they wouldn't want to trip up on.
They were given a fright by Scotland in their previous outing on Wednesday, not least by Mark Watt's grafting fingerspin, and while Michael Leask's devil-may-care hitting came too late to truly challenge an upset, it did limit the margin of defeat to a slender 16 runs - not the net run rate boost that Williamson's men might have been envisaging.
4
6
2
2
Language
English
Win Probability
NZ 100%
NZNAM
100%50%100%NZ InningsNAM Innings

Over 20 • NAM 111/7

New Zealand won by 52 runs
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ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Group 1
TEAMMWLPTNRR
ENG54182.464
AUS54181.216
SA54180.739
SL5234-0.269
WI5142-1.641
BAN5050-2.383
Group 2
TEAMMWLPTNRR
PAK550101.583
NZ54181.162
IND53261.747
AFG52341.053
NAM5142-1.890
SCOT5050-3.543
First Round Group A
TEAMMWLPTNRR
SL33063.754
NAM3214-0.523
IRE3122-0.853
NED3030-2.460
First Round Group B
TEAMMWLPTNRR
SCOT33060.775
BAN32141.733
OMA3122-0.025
PNG3030-2.655