England World Cup Super 8 spot was in trouble but the defenders won the game against Namibia at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda. England has secured the spot in Super 8 with Australia from their group.
The English team defeated Namibia by 41 runs via DLS Method. The defending champions stop the Namibian team on just 84 runs and by taking three wickets. Namibia needs to chase down the target of 126 runs. Earlier, England were put into bat first by Namibia.
The rain was the reason that took the game from 20 overs to 11 overs per side, and the match started three hours later than the actual time. Then the game was again shortened to 10 overs due to an interruption in the 8th over.
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The England World Cup team faces the early dismissal of Skipper Jos Buttler on a golden duck(0) and Phill Slat on 11 runs due to great blowing by Namibia Skipper.
But Jonny Bairstow, who batted at number three behind Harry Brook and continued to play until the end, steadied the innings.
With both of them scoring runs at will, the pressure that the Namibian bowlers had applied early on was released. They combined for 56 runs in 30 balls.
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Bairstow left the game having hit three fours and two sixes en route to an 18-ball 31.
Moeen and Brook Ali used their power hitting to perfection in the last overs. Liam Livingstone made 3-ball 12 and vice-captain Moeen 6-ball 16.
After 20 balls, Brook was still undefeated at 47. He shut down six restrictions.
With numbers of 2/31, Ruben Trumpelmann emerged as Namibia’s finest bowler, but David Wiese was the most economical early on with figures of 1/6.
In the run chase, Michael van Lingen and Nikolaas Davin were unable to match the par score and could only muster 43 runs in the first six overs. Following Davin’s retirement (16 off 18), Wiese teamed up with Van Lingen.
The pair played their strokeplay, but they were unable to get close to the objective. Wiese scored 12-ball 27 while Van Lingen made 29-ball 33.
For England, Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer both claimed a wicket.
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After four games, England has a Net Run Rate of +3.611 and points. They are ranked second in Group B’s points table, behind only Australia, who have already earned a Super 8 spot.
Scotland, on the other hand, has the same amount of points and will play Australia in their last group match later today. They will qualify if they win and move up above both teams.
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