As Namibia has continued developing its cricket side throughout these last couple of years, they will once again have a chance of playing at an ultimate stage. After a disappointing ending last time out, where they managed to win just one match, this side is hoping for a lot better since they have made a few key changes.
With popularity growing in the country by the year and more people becoming involved with the team, head coach Craig Williams is a former player turned coach who knows much about the way of developing a cricketing side. Getting hired a couple of months back, he led them to their first massive victory against Zimbabwe just a couple of days prior.
This unit’s biggest upset to date is still beating Sri Lanka in the 2022 T20I World Cup, and will hope to pull out more victories like that during future times. Currently ranked 16th in this format and looking to build on it, they have shown ability to cross several strong sides like Nepal plus Oman, while gaining additional confidence going into a massive qualifier.
With most of Namibia’s squad intact from the side that made it a year back, the only major loss they may have to worry about is David Wiese, as he was one of the best all-rounders. Heading into a new phase, captain Gerhard Erasmus will be a key leading factor for this team and should show his key leadership abilities once again.
Strengths: An Absolutely Dominating Top Order Should Show Their Fire Power
Looking at how this Namibia side bats, a lot of their credit has to go to their upper order since they really know how about they keys of striking early and helping them get towards higher scores. One key piece that has recently shown up after struggling early on in his career is Jan Frylinck, 841 runs in 49 innings, as he continues being a key aggressor. Someone who has mixed his 23 sixes very well with 64 boundaries, he just hit one of the fastest 50’s last match, and now is up to two during his early career.
Opposite him, Louren Steenkamp made his debut against Zimbabwe and could create a really nice mix in this opening pair as he’s a right-handed piece that plays the game in a more controlled approach.
Captain Gerhard Erasmus will come in at one-down and should be extremely vital to this side’s innings. Known for being a huge turning point for this side, he is slowly becoming their number one player of all time and has already scored 1660 runs during 68 innings at an average of over 30.
With 11 half-centuries, Erasmus understands the keys on when to attack and has always kept his strike rate over 120, while really doing well with his long-ball approach. As he’s also smashed a century in this format, it will be vital for Namibia to get him going, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton closes down that order with a 21+ average. Having hit a century himself, it will be important for him to stay on strike after the middle-overs as well.
Weaknesses: Finishing Off Matches Could Turn Into A Problem
For Namibia, their main issue is about how their batsmen close out matches and sometimes get caught by being overly aggressive when they have to play more simpler shots. A stage that was shown during their T20I match against Zimbabwe, they had started 74/1 in their first 7.5 overs, but the match took a complete 360 afterwards as their side had to chase down 211.
Although Namibia’s run-rate stayed near 9 during the first 17 overs, wickets started tumbling from the 14th over when captain Gerhard Erasmus tried pulling the trigger. As they had required 93 runs, and it became more of a 50/50 matchup, their captain’s losing his wicket was due to playing extra aggressively and hitting it right to the fielders.
Since Gerhard Erasmus was playing like that, their other middle-order batsmen in JJ Smit tried following him and lost their wicket within two overs, things became an even bigger mess when Ruben Trumplemann tried hitting with way too much power. Although they scored quite a bit within two overs with a 26-run partnership, it seemed like there were several opportunities for Zimbabwe to remove this duo even earlier if they hadn’t dropped so many catches.
A couple balls later, their weakest link in Zane Green has been a massive problem in these run chases as well, since he’s scored lower than 600 runs during over 60 matches played and has struggled to finish any matches. Not known for his brute strength, it happened during another match against Zimbabwe and has been a consistent theme during past times.
Opportunities: Bowling Unit Should Be Extremely Strong And Create Amazing Chances
On this side, their bowlers have continued being key because of amazing depth, and also having a variety of pieces that bowl at a different angle. Their main piece in Ruben Trumpelmann has been an amazing left-handed pacer that has turned himself into one of the best wicket-takers and also keeps a very manageable economy. Allowing fewer than 8 an over, he has removed 43 batsmen during his 38 matches, while looking absolutely dominant during powerplay overs.
Left-arm orthodox bowler Bernard Scholtz, 73 wickets, has been very important in creating turn and changing lengths of his deliveries, while this is someone who also can limit runs to 6-7 per over, plus not struggle much.
From the right side, Ben Shikongo has shown early promise as the 25-year-old has already taken 29 wickets for his country and been another key economical threat. As their second bowler, who allows well under 7 runs per over, he can really attack with pace and find the middle area of stumps. Someone whose picked up a three-wicket haul before, he was very close to four and now will look to regain his prowess to finally hit that mark. Although he mixes medium plus fast balls together, this has also been huge for him because Shikongo creates that surprise effect that not many can. Closing it out, Jan Izak de Villiers and Alexander Busing-Volschenk should be two impactful pieces that bowl key overs.
Threats: Another Side Will Be Fighting A Very Tough Schedule
Since Namibia is now playing in a group that is no longer as simple to win, things are going to change, and they will have to be more than ready for it. Knowing that Nigeria has slowly shown emergence and beat Namibia’s A-side pretty easily, it will really be a tough test for their main squad to face this team again.
With this being said, even Kenya’s side will be very hungry to make a comeback, which could lead them in coming out with a completely different energy. If that remains true, these matches against Namibia can be much closer than expected, while also keeping an eye out for a real wildcard in Malawi. Given all this, the other potential threat they could face is playing Zimbabwe before the finals, which means they could potentially be out before finals time and miss out on a World Cup appearance.
Namibia Squad: Alexander Busing-Volschenk, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Louren Steenkamp, Malan Kruger, Dylan Leicher, Gerhard Erasmus, Jan Balt, Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit, Zane Green, Ben Shikongo, Bernard Scholtz, Jack Brassell, Jan-Izak de Villiers, Ruben Trumpelmann
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