England won by 41 runs (DLS method)
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Harry Brook
Batter
Bowler
So all eyes move to St Lucia where Australia play Scotland. Bet that the whole England team will be glued in to that game. We will be there for that too. But for now this is it from here. Time to chill now. You guys do too. See you soon. Bye.
Jos Buttler | England captain: Big relief and a stressful day when the rain was coming down. We managed the situation well and we played well. That was a really good score on that wicket. When I got out, I was thinking 85-90 was a good score with the way the ball was sticking on that wicket. Fantastic from Brook, Bairstow and Mo. They are class players, they have been hitting the ball well and credit to those guys, they put together a vital partnership. That's how it is, we had two games rained out against Pakistan and one in Scotland and we will see what happens. [if they will be rooting now for Australia] Absolutely.
Gerhard Erasmus | Namibia captain: Definitely was a steep chase and still felt bowling first was the right way to go about it but leaked a bit during the end. [on Wiese] He does not want to open, next time we can get him in quicker, but it's his last game and nice to see him bat well. Massive impact and he is a great guy with the performances on the field and we have learned from him off the field and he has been an inspiration for us. Disappointed at not going to the next stage, but playing on the world stage is goldust and we want to take that experience home. Every time you get exposure like this, you definitely get better but whether that translates to wins remains to be seen. You can't hide behind the fact that you need to play more and more of these high-level competitions.
Harry Brook | Player of the Match: There was a lot of anxiety going around, we didn't quite think we were going to get out there. Thankfully it stopped (raining) and we got the game. We batted first, we took quite a bit of information from our batting out onto the pitch when we were fielding. Topley started beautifully with his height. We knew he was always going to be tough. It was tough from them. Facing the spin in the middle there was quite tough, didn't quite know how it's going to come off the pitch. I just tried to stick in there. I was trying to hit boundaries, I was just plinking it into the gaps and getting twos, I was knackered in the end but I am glad that I got a few runs. He (Bairstow) was just banging it, he was trying to smack it. He had a few dot balls and I tried to take that as a positive because I knew he was going to try and hit. He was going to hit a few sixes after those dot balls. He batted beautifully there. I have been asleep before the night games have been finished. Hopefully I can stay up for it (Australia vs Scotland).
17:56 Local Time, 21:56 GMT, 03:26 IST: England have done what they can. Now all eyes on Australia v Scotland later on. The rain nearly threatened to put England out of the tournament. After a long delay, the game was reduced to 11-overs a side. Again another spell of rain during the 1st innings reduced the game further to 10-overs a side. England batted really well to make 122 and the target was always going to test Namibia. The openers were slow in the powerplay and even though Davin was retired out and Wiese sent in, it eventually was too much for the African side. Wiese though sparkled with a cameo and van Lingen too struck a few blows but England closed it out professionally. Credit must be given to the groundstaff for making sure that the game happened after all the rain that hit the venue earlier on. England end on 5 points and with a better NRR than Scotland. They now need Australia to defeat Scotland which will take England to the Super Eights. Any other result will see England going home. Stay tuned for the presentation...
END OF OVER 10
4 Runs
NAM: 84 - 3
1 0 1 W Wd L1 0
Gerhard Erasmus
1 (3)
JJ Smit
0 (1)
Jofra Archer
2-0-15-1
Jofra Archer to Erasmus, no run, another back of the hand slower ball dug in, Erasmus looks to reverse-scoop and misses, England win handsomely
Jofra Archer to Smit, leg byes, 1 run, full and angling down the leg-side, past leg-stump, Smit drives and misses, rapped on the pads and they take a legbye
Jofra Archer to Smit, wide, dug in short, Smit pulls and misses, too high and a wide called
JJ Smit, right handed bat, comes to the crease
Jofra Archer to Wiese, out Caught by Harry Brook!! Again Brook takes the catch at long-on. Simpler one this time. A back of the hand slower ball dug in, Wiese miscues the pull and holes out. An ovation for Wiese who walks off with both arms raised and his team-mates too clap him in. Is that the last time we see Wiese for Namibia? The scenes suggest it could well be so. A couple of England players walk to Wiese and hug him. Wiese c Harry Brook b Jofra Archer 27(12) [4s-2 6s-2]
Jofra Archer to Wiese, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
Jofra Archer to Erasmus, 1 run, slower ball and into the pitch, Erasmus pulls to deep mid-wicket
Jofra Archer to Erasmus, no run, slower ball leg-cutter full just outside off, Erasmus swings and misses
Jofra Archer to Wiese, 1 run, a low full-toss on the stumps, flicked to deep mid-wicket for one
Jofra Archer [1.0-0-12-0] is back into the attack
Gerhard Erasmus, right handed bat, comes to the crease
END OF OVER 9
9 Runs
NAM: 80 - 2
1 1 1 0 6 W
Michael van Lingen
33 (29)
David Wiese
26 (10)
Chris Jordan
2-0-19-1
Jordan to Michael van Lingen, out Caught by Harry Brook!! Good catch at long-on. Full and in the slot, lofted and Brook moves to his right and leaps at the right time to take it with both hands. Michael van Lingen c Harry Brook b Jordan 33(29) [4s-1 6s-3]
Jordan to Michael van Lingen, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
Mo has a word with Jordan. A change of gloves for Michael van Lingen meanwhile.
Jordan to Michael van Lingen, SIX, slower ball off-cutter across Michael van Lingen and he picks it, pulls it hard and flat over deep mid-wicket