T20 World Cup: Australia qualify for Super Eights after beating Namibia by 9 wickets

North Sound (Antigua), June 12: Australia qualified for the Super Eights of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 after beating Namibia by 9 wickets at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua Wednesday.

Australia needed just 73 runs to win the match and ended the game in just the sixth over after their dominant performance during the run chase.

David Warner (20 runs from 8 balls, 3 fours and 1 six) and Travis Head (34* runs from 17 balls, 5 fours and 2 sixes) opened for Australia and had a 21-run partnership.

Warner was unlucky to lose his wicket in the second over to David Wiese. However, that did not create a problem for the Aussies as Skipper Mitchell Marsh (18* runs from 9 balls, 3 fours and 1 six) put up a staggering performance.

During the run chase, all three Aussie batters played with a strike above 200. Wiese was the only wicket-taker for Namibia. He gave 15 runs in his one-over spell in the match.

Adam Zampa was named the 'Player of the Match' after he picked up four wickets in the first innings. The Aussie spinner is the first Australian to take 100 wickets in T20Is.

After winning the toss, Australia decided to bowl against Namibia. However, the Aussies' decision did go in their favour.

Michael van Lingen (10 runs from 10 balls, 2 fours) and Nikolaas Davin (2 runs from 7 balls) failed to give Namibia a fruitful start as they could only make a 14-run opening partnership. Josh Hazlewood made the first breakthrough of the match after he removed Davin in the third over of the first inning.

Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus (36 runs from 43 balls, 4 fours and 1 six) was the only standout batter among his teammates. The batting allrounder was the highest run-getter among his teammates as no other batters could display a solid performance.

Namibia crossed the 50-run mark in the 14th over after losing eight wickets. The Australian bowling attack displayed a stupendous performance in the game, they dominated the game from the beginning of the match.

Zampa led the Aussie bowling attack as he picked up four wickets and gave 12 runs in his four-over spell at an economy rate of 3.00. The 32-year-old bagged Zane Green, David Wiese, Ruben Trumpelmann, and Bernard Scholtz's wicket in the first inning. Hazlewood and Marcus Stoinis also bagged two wickets each in their respective spells.

Brief score: Namibia 72 (Gerhard Erasmus 36, Michael van Lingen 10, Ruben Trumpelmann 7; Adam Zampa 4/12) lost to Australia 74/1 (Travis Head 34*, David Warner 20, Mitchell Marsh 18*; David Wiese 1/15) by 9 wickets.

(ANI)