Day: November 5, 2021

Dubai, November 05, 2021 (PPI-OT):Australia captain Aaron Finch says his side will stick to their guns as the battle for qualification goes down to the final day in Group 1.

Finch and his men take on the West Indies knowing a positive result will go a long way to ensuring their passage to the semi-finals with England and South Africa facing off later on Saturday.

Australia recorded a decisive and crucial victory against Bangladesh, chasing down 74 in 6.2 overs, and will hoping for more of the same against the reigning champions in Abu Dhabi.

“You’d love to keep it in our control, that’s all you can focus on,” Finch said.

“As soon as you start hoping other teams win or other teams lose, it just clouds your judgment and your vision.

“It’s really important that we just go and stick to our guns, stick to our process because we know that’s good enough when we get it right.

“West Indies are such a dangerous side, we saw that when we played them. Obviously with them being out of the competition now they’ve got nothing to lose, which can also be a really dangerous spot.”

The West Indies defeated Australia 4-1 in a T20I series earlier this year with Hayden Walsh Jr taking 12 wickets, and Australia will be wary of him again tomorrow.

“We expect him to come back into the side. He had a sensational series against us over there,” Finch added.

“I do think we’re better equipped to deal with that at the moment. Obviously having played him before in a five-game series there’s been a lot more information sharing amongst the boys and chat about that.

“It just comes down to being able to perform your best game on the day. That sounds pretty basic but that’s what it comes down to, and as long as we can keep our intent, keep our energy, I think that goes a long way to us giving ourselves the best chance of winning.”

West Indies will be eager to end their tournament on a high having picked up only one win during a limp defence of the trophy they memorably won in 2016.

And Shimron Hetmyer, who made a sparkling 81 off 54 balls in a losing cause against Sri Lanka on Thursday, hopes to back up that display as he targets consistency.

Hetmyer said: “I’m trying to be as consistent as I possibly can. It really helps with the overall performance of the team, with having consistent batters in the team and having players who put up their hands more times than not.

“[It] will really help in us going forward knowing we have another World Cup coming up pretty soon and then we have all the series to play as well.”

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

Dubai, November 05, 2021 (PPI-OT):Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus says his side will learn plenty of lessons from their 52-run defeat against New Zealand in Sharjah.

The Eagles have been making their debut appearance at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup performed brilliantly to reach the Super 12 stage, in which they have recorded a victory over Scotland.

Against New Zealand, Namibia started well having put the Blackcaps into bat before Jimmy Neesham and Glenn Phillips smashed 67 off the final four overs.

New Zealand’s bowlers were then disciplined as they restricted Namibia to 111 for seven in their chase of 164.

“That period of the game there is a big window of opportunity and they were just better in those periods,” Erasmus said.

“They executed their skills on a pretty difficult wicket and we lost wicket after wicket and just couldn’t keep with their run rate.

“At the back end, to score runs off two quality seam bowlers, and some spinners as well, it’s hard to do.

“It’s a learning experience, it’s awesome to see, it’s awesome to be a part of, we can just take it as it comes.”

Erasmus also explained how different the World Cup has been compared to their previous tournament experience.

He said: “I think it gives us the opportunity to express ourselves a little bit more. We are used to playing in qualifiers where every game was almost like a do or die type of game.

“Here the intensity is so different to what we are used to, the discipline is so much better than what we are used to and for us, it’s a great learning experience.”

Neesham and Phillips moved New Zealand to a strong total of 163 as they recovered from 66 for two at the halfway mark, before fine bowling from Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Adam Milne in the final four overs of the game prevented Namibia from doing the same.

The Blackcaps are now in pole position to qualify for the semi-finals although net run rate could still be a deciding factor, something Neesham says they tried to ignore.

“We’re pretty good as a unit at keeping what’s necessary to concentrate on at the front of our minds,” Neesham said.

“It doesn’t bother us too much. It was just about going out in the field and getting done what we had to get done.

“There are a few different permutations around run rate as well after the game. But for us, it was just about winning the game moving on to Afghanistan in a couple of days.”

With New Zealand 87 for four at the end of the 14th over, Neesham was given his first opportunity of the World Cup to show his batting prowess.

He said: “It’s just about being as free as I can be, as clear as I can be in my game plans when I do get out there and the nature of being that number six all-rounder is that you’re going to be tasked with the game when the game is on hand.

“There’s going to be those pressure situations whether it’s today or a semi-final, or a final moving forward, so I’m always ready for that. There are certainly no excuses from a number of balls faced point of view.”

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

Dubai, November 05, 2021 (PPI-OT):With four overs to go, New Zealand and Namibia were in remarkably similar positions. New Zealand were at 96 for four, with their captain and key man Kane Williamson back in the pavilion. Namibia was at 92 for four with their own skipper, Gerhard Erasmus, also out.

But that is about where the similarities ended in Sharjah. The Black Caps were able to call on Glenn Phillips and Jimmy Neesham and while Namibia had their own big-hitting wicketkeeper-batter in Zane Green, JJ Smit is not a match for the experienced Neesham in the all-rounder stakes.

And it showed, New Zealand blasting their way to 163 for four while the Eagles stumbled to 111 for seven at the end of their 20 overs.

Neesham had joined Phillips in the middle at the 14-over mark after Devon Conway was run out by some excellent fielding by Erasmus, who was supported by debutant bowler Karl Birkenstock at the stumps.

In their first two overs together, the pair added only nine runs but as the death overs arrived, so did their boundary hitting.

Erasmus had been tidy in his first three overs, conceding only eight as well as picking up his opposite number Williamson.

His last over was not as disciplined as New Zealand scored off every ball, with Phillips smashing a six to bring his side into three figures.

David Wiese suffered a worse fate as Neesham and Phillips both smashed him for six, Neesham also finding the gap for four to take 21 off the over.

It didn’t stop there. In the penultimate over, Ruben Trumpelmann was brought on for only his third over and conceded 14 off it as New Zealand neared the 150-mark.

Smit then prolonged Namibia’s misery, bowling four wides on his way to helping New Zealand to 163.

With Trent Boult and Tim Southee leading the bowling attack, New Zealand were confident of defending the target but they didn’t have it all their own way.

Adam Milne went for 12 at the end of the powerplay before Sodhi was dispatched for 14 runs by Wiese and Green in the 14th over to set up a potentially grandstand finish.

But with four overs left, Boult was as cool as ever, conceding just four as he looked to extinguish Namibia’s chances.

Southee was just as composed, not letting being hit for four affect him and accounting for Green with the very next delivery.

Boult dismissed two batters for ducks in his final over as Namibia’s chances were firmly snuffed out and all that was left was for Milne to deny the Eagles a final flourish in a miserly final over.

New Zealand had not only won the match, but they had also won the death overs – a key period which went a long way to deciding the ultimate outcome.

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com