Chasing down a target of 210 runs, Namibia did get off to a good start to the run chase. Steenkamp and Frylinck came out to open the innings for their side and managed to put in a good showing in the powerplay; however, once the Indian spin attack came into the picture, it became crystal clear for the Men in Blue who was gonna win. Taking consistent wickets, the Indian team limited Namibia to just 116, and won the game by 93 runs.
For Namibia, it’s an opportunity to make a statement in world cricket. The USA put the Indian team under pressure and there’s no reason why Namibia can’t do it. They suffered a defeat to the Netherlands in their opening game and there’s of course, room for improvement, particularly in the batting department. The Gerhard Erasmus-led side lacked intent in the middle, which became problematic in the end. Against India, who play an aggressive brand of cricket, Namibia need to change the approach.
The surface, in the meantime, will heavily favour the batters. A high-scoring match is expected and the dew is likely to play a huge role in the second innings.
Squads:
India Squad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar
Namibia Squad: Louren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (c), JJ Smit, Zane Green (wk), Ruben Trumpelmann, Dylan Leicher, Willem Myburgh, Bernard Scholtz, Max Heingo, Malan Kruger, Ben Shikongo, Jack Brassell, Jan Balt