T20 World Cup result: Australia beats Namibia for 72 to progress to Super Eight

T20 World Cup, Group B, Antigua

Namibia 72 (17 overs): Erasmus 36 (43); Zampa 4-12

Australia 74-1 (5.4 overs): Head 34* (17)

Australia wins by 9 wickets

Australia beat Namibia for 72 in Antigua to secure a comfortable nine-wicket victory and book their place in the Super 8 T20 World Cup.

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa reached 100 T20 international wickets with 4-12, while Josh Hazlewood and Marcus Stoinis picked up two wickets each.

Australia’s top-order was relentless in the powerplay after dismissing Namibia in the 17th over with just two batsmen reaching double figures.

Travis Head finished unbeaten on 34 off 17 balls and captain Mitchell Marsh scored the winning run with two balls remaining in the sixth over.

The win sees Australia move above Scotland to the top of Group B, with the teams facing off in St Lucia on Sunday.

A win for Scotland would mean defeating defending champions England, but they first need big wins over Oman and Namibia to have any chance of progressing.

South Africa qualified for the Super 8s after the Sri Lanka-Nepal match in Lauderhill, Florida, was abandoned without being bowled due to rain.

The result does not erase Sri Lanka’s hopes of finishing in the top two in Group D, but they would need a highly unlikely run of results, such as a cancelled match when Bangladesh play the Netherlands on Thursday, to progress.

It was a remarkably clinical performance from Australia, who continued their quest to become world champions for the second time after winning the 50-over World Cup in India last year.

Left-arm pace bowler Mitchell Starc was rested but could not stop the team from taking control of the match in the opening powerplay.

Hazlewood took two wickets and Pat Cummins one for Namibia, who were 17 for 3 after six overs, while captain Gerhard Erasmus managed to score off 17 balls.

Erasmus bounced back with 36 runs off 43 balls but found no support as Australia’s bowlers ruthlessly tore through the middle and lower order.

Zampa took centre stage and a beautiful googly pass to bowl Bernard Scholz gave Zampa his fourth wicket of the match and his 100th in T20Is.

The 32-year-old is the first Australian man to reach the milestone and only the third overall after Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt.

Once Stoinis finished his innings, it was the batsmen’s turn and they were in no mood to wait.

David Warner scored 20 off the first seven balls but was felled by David Wiese in the second over.

Head and Marsh took over and after hitting 11 fours and four sixes, Australia secured victory with 86 balls to spare.

England will need to show similar ruthlessness in their next two matches if they are to join Australia in the Super Eights.

If not, they may be hoping for another strong showing from Marsh’s side against Scotland.

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh: “Our bowling team performed fantastically. It was a very professional performance overall.”

“I’m delighted to be playing in the Super 8s. It’ll be pretty busy after the Scotland game so I’ll be trying to manage as many people as I can over the next few days.”

“Over the last four or five years, [Zampa] “He’s probably the most important player in terms of our team composition. He loves the big moments, he loves the pressure. He pitches great and we’re lucky to have him.”

Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus: “When you’re playing against the best players in the world, you can’t just sit back and do nothing. That’s one thing I learned tonight.”

“There may be a skill gap, but you can close that gap a little bit by fighting fire with fire, and we haven’t done that enough in this tournament.”

“A strong team like Australia will wear you down if you’re not mentally prepared.”