RESULT
21st Match, Group 2 (N), Abu Dhabi, October 27, 2021, ICC Men's T20 World Cup
(19.1/20 ov, T:110) 115/6

Namibia won by 4 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)

Player Of The Match
3/17
ruben-trumpelmann
Cricinfo's MVP
121.63 ptsImpact List
michael-leask
Preview

Namibia look for winning start to Super 12s against hurt Scotland

Namibia have the edge having beaten Scotland in both their most-recent outings this month

Varun Shetty
Varun Shetty
26-Oct-2021
By making it to the Super 12s, Namibia have also booked a place in next year's T20 WC in Australia  •  ICC via Getty

By making it to the Super 12s, Namibia have also booked a place in next year's T20 WC in Australia  •  ICC via Getty

Big picture

Scotland's unbeaten run at this year's World Cup came to a crashing halt against Afghanistan on Monday. Several dubious records were bagged on the way as they lost nine wickets to Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan, a signal that quality spin is an Achilles heel for this team.
Their first shot at leaving that performance firmly in the past will come on Wednesday against Namibia, the only other Associate team remaining in the World Cup. With three teams from the subcontinent in their group, and New Zealand to boot, both Scotland and Namibia will have earmarked this fixture as the place to pick up two sure points.
For Namibia, it is the first match of this stage, and a chance to get started with a win before any thoughts of upsetting the bigger teams later on. For Scotland, it's a little more urgent than that. They were the most dominant side in the first round and starting with losses to the two teams they would consider closest to them in stature will sour what has already been a historic campaign.
The teams have already played each other twice this month before the World Cup began, and have won one game each.*

Form guide

Namibia WWLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Scotland LWWWL

In the spotlight

Gerhard Erasmus has already sealed his status as a Namibia great, as the captain who has led them to what will now be back-to-back T20 World Cups. His fifty against Ireland brought them into this stage of the tournament, and was described by Player-of-the-Match David Wiese as the more important of the two knocks that helped seal qualification for them. He's been out cheaply against Scotland the last two times they've met, and will be looking to set the straight when it matters the most. Erasmus is Namibia's top-scorer in this format and will be expected to set the tone on Wednesday
George Munsey has been looking like a man in form without yet making a big score. At the top of the order, Munsey has shown shades of his destructive best, and will be looking to go deeper in the innings as Scotland look to put behind their batting failure from earlier in the week. Munsey bats in what is the best phase in these conditions and Namibia will consider him one of the main threats.

Team news

Neither side is likely to change their XIs.
Namibia: (possible) 1 Zane Green (wk), 2 Craig Williams, 3 Gerhard Erasmus (capt), 4 David Wiese, 5 JJ Smit, 6 Jan Frylinck, 7 Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, 8 Pikky Ya France/Stephen Baard, 9 Ruben Trumpelmann, 10 Michael van Lingen, 11 Bernard Scholtz
Scotland: (possible) 1 Kyle Coetzer (capt), 2 George Munsey, 3 Calum MacLeod, 4 Richie Berrington, 5 Matthew Cross (wk), 6 Michael Leask, 7 Chris Greaves, 8 Mark Watt, 9 Josh Davey, 10 Safyaan Sharif, 11 Brad Wheal

Pitch and conditions

The forecast has Abu Dhabi's temperature hovering about 30 degree celsius during the start of this evening fixture, among the coolest evenings in the tournament so far. It's a pitch that's shown assistance for fast bowling as well recently, but evening fixtures have generally taken the pitch out of the equation at this venue, with dew being a much bigger factor. Four of the last five wins have been for the team batting second. It is, however, among the friendlier venues for bowlers in this format due to the long boundaries.

Stats and trivia

  • These teams have played each other in Abu Dhabi previously, but that was in the World Cup qualifiers back in 2012. Scotland lost that game as well
  • Safyaan Sharif is set to play his 50th game for Scotland. He is their top wicket-taker in T20Is with 57, 30 of which have come in the UAE in 22 innings
  • With seven sixes, Wiese is currently tied at the top with Evin Lewis for most sixes in the tournament
  • Quotes

    "Financially we weren't where we wanted to be, but as a team we weren't really performing. And to think of tournaments like qualifying tournaments, we tend to just fall away at the end. We knew we really had to turn around, and it's really been an effort to do that. It had to be some great role play within Cricket Namibia - from the coaching staff to the board members to the administration itself - that have followed to buy into one vision and go some way. And now we sort of I guess at the peak and reaping those rewards which is great. And hopefully continue going upwards."
    Gerhard Erasmus reflects on Namibia's journey before a big day
    "Namibia are a very good team. I actually said before the Cup started that I expected them to go through. I'm kind of pleased that they did. They've got everything covered - they've got experience, they've got a really good fielding unit and very tidy bowling. So we know enough about them, we've played against them three or four times in the last, maybe three years now. There's no real surprises but at the same time we do expect to go out there and win."
    Scotland's Matthew Cross on their equation with Namibia
    *This article previously stated that Scotland have lost both games this month to Namibia. That was an error.

    Varun Shetty is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

    Language
    English
    Win Probability
    NAM 100%
    SCOTNAM
    100%50%100%SCOT InningsNAM Innings

    Over 20 • NAM 115/6

    Namibia won by 4 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)
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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