Match Preview - NAM vs OMA Match 3, Group B, T20 World Cup | British Day

Match details

Namibia vs Oman
Bridgetown, 8:30pm local time

The Big Picture

Namibia will be competing in their third consecutive T20 World Cup and will be hoping to improve on their previous impressive run of results. In 2021, they surprised many by beating Ireland and the Netherlands to qualify for the Super 12, and in 2022 they beat Sri Lanka in the first round but failed to progress to the knockout stages.

They have dominated the African qualifiers, winning all six matches to qualify for the T20 World Cup in 2024. With England and Australia also in their group, they know their best chance of progressing to the Super Eight is to beat Oman and Scotland and then pull off an upset.

But Oman could be a tough opponent in their first match as they narrowly edged out Namibia when the two teams met in a five-match T20I series in April, ultimately winning 3-2.

Oman will also be competing in their third T20 World Cup and are riding high on the momentum they have built up since reaching the ACC Premier Cup final, where they won five straight games before losing to the UAE in the final. Aqib Ilyas will take over as captain for this World Cup, replacing the more experienced Zeeshan Maqsood.

Form Guide

Namibia WWLLW (Last 5 T20Is, Latest first)
Oman cute

People of Interest – David Wiese and Akib Ilyas

One of the biggest factors in Namibia’s impressive season in 2021, David Wiese has since become a globetrotting T20 traveller, playing in several franchise leagues including the IPL, Hundred and PSL. He has also played in the CPL and MLC, giving him a feel for the conditions on offer in the two T20 World Cup host countries. Namibia will be hoping the experience he has gained over the last few years will prepare him for a good season as he will be key to the team’s plans with both bat and ball.

Aqib Ilyas is not only a top-order batsman but also a very manageable spinner. He was the leading wicket-taker in the ACC Premier Cup with 12 wickets in five matches at an economy of 6.22. In the series final against Namibia, he took 2 for 21 in three overs before making 51 off 29 balls in their failed chase of 213. Namibia will be wary of his threat but it will be interesting to see how he handles the added responsibility of leading the team.

Team news

Namibia could potentially use 11 players with up to seven pitchers, and No. 9 candidate Reuben Trampelman is no weak hitter.

Namibia (Predicted starting line-up): 1 Nicolas Davin, 2 Jean-Pierre Kotze, 3 Michael van Lingen, 4 Gerhard Erasmus (captain), 5 JJ Smit, 6 David Wiese, 7 Jan Vrylinck, 8 Zane Green (weekkeeper), 9 Ruben Trumpelmann, 10 Bernard Scholz, 11 Ben Shikongo

Oman have plenty of pitching options amongst the top and middle order and could field the same line-up they used in the Premier Cup final.

Oman (Projected XI): 1 Kashyap Prajapati, 2 Naseem Khushi (wk), 3 Aqib Ilyas (captain), 4 Zeeshan Maqsood, 5 Pratik Atavale (wk), 6 Ayaan Khan, 7 Khalid Khair, 8 Shakeel Ahmad, 9 Rafiullah, 10 Fayyaz Butt, 11 Bilal Khan

Pitch and conditions

Historically, Bridgetown has made it difficult for batsmen to score runs off spinners. It is not a particularly prolific ground and in the 12 matches played at the venue since the start of 2022, the average first innings score has been 178. Teams batting first have won eight of those 12 matches.

There’s a 40% chance of rain, but even heavy rainfall is not expected to last more than 30 minutes.

Key Stats

Captain Gerhard Erasmus, one of Namibia’s many all-rounders, is in fine bowling form: he has taken wickets in eight of his last 10 matches and has not conceded more than one run in any of them.
Oman’s 37-year-old fast bowler Bilal Khan has recorded an economy rate of 4.45 in three matches in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Maqsood, Mehran Khan and Bilal are the only three players from Oman’s squad that qualified for their first T20 World Cup in 2016 to be included in this year’s squad.

Quote

“My responsibility is bigger now that I’m in charge of the team. I have to be smarter and give 100 per cent. We’ve been working really hard so far, in camp and everywhere else. Now when I step on the field it’s just about mentality, presence and game awareness. I’m looking for a great performance to get at least two man of the match awards in the first round.”
Oman Captain Akib Ilyas

Abhimanyu Bose is Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo.

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