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After losing their first games badly, Dutch and Eagles fight it out for survival

Abhishek Singh

It wasn’t an ideal start for the Netherlands team which is supposed to be playing with its golden generation of cricketers in this year’s World T20 2021. They were rolled over for 106 while batting and then in bowling didn’t get enough wickets either as Ireland chased down the total with more than 30 balls remaining. 

This meant that it wasn’t just a loss but a loss so big that their net run rate took a huge blow and now they are not only dependent upon themselves to win the next two games, but would hope that either Sri Lanka and Ireland lose one match very badly. 

Namibia on the other hand had too much to do in terms of tackling the seasoned Sri Lankan bowlers and that resulted in them being bowled out for a meagre 96. And although the Sri Lankans lost their first three wickets quickly with none among the top three getting into double figures, Avishka Fernando and Bahnauka Rajapaksa made sure that the match was finished in only the 14th over without the islanders losing any more wicket. 

Courtesy of that defeat, the Eagles are very low down the barrel in terms of the net run rate as well. Thus a battle between these two sides is not only of victory but both the teams would look to win big to keep their hopes of qualifications alive. 

This is Namibia’s best chance of winning a World Cup game with the team that they have got. The last time they were in a World Cup, they lost all their six games in 2003. On the other hand, Netherlands have won before, even been to the next stage in previous editions, but this time around, they had come with their best possible 15 members and were looking to make it count. But the first game would have done massive damage to those goals. 

Still, the Dutch would like to believe that they can go ahead from here and still believe in that dream of chasing glory with their golden generation. However, they would have to make some changes in the playing XI, especially bringing in Stephen Myburgh, Timm van der Gugten and Paul van Meekeren, the experienced trio in place of Bass de Leede, Brandon Glover and most probably wither Fred Klaasen or Colin Ackermann. 

Namibia vs Netherlands: Match Details

Match Number - 07

Date and Time - October 20, 2021, 03:30 pm IST, 02:00 pm Local, 10:00 am GMT

Venue -Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Broadcast and Livestream - Star Sports Network and Hotstar

Pitch Report

As far as the evidence from the first day of the tournament is concerned, the wicket at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi looked good for batting even as the odd ball did stop and kept low a bit. However, the batting by Sri Lankan and Irish batters showed that the pitch could have been trusted. 

Weather Forecast

With plenty of sunshine and no chances of rain or any other disturbance in the offing, this day game wouldn’t have anything depending on the weather. 

Probable XI

Namibia

Stephan Baard, Zane Green (wk), Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Pikky Ya France, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz

Netherlands

Max O’Dowd, Ben Cooper, Stephan Myburgh, Ryan ten Doeschate, Scott Edwards (wk), Roelof van der Merwe, Pieter Seelaar (c), Timm van der Gugten, Logan van Beek, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren

CE XI Fantasy team

Wicketkeeper Scott Edwards

Batters Max O’Dowd, Ben Cooper, Gerhard Erasmus

All-rounders Pieter Seelaar, David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck

Bowlers Timm van der Gugten, Logan van Beek, Bernard Scholtz

Vice-Captain JJ Smit

Captain Max O’Dowd 

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