The preparation of the T20 World Cup has already begun. The teams are locking horns in warm-up matches. Before stepping into the big tournament, they are doing their last-time preparation. In the last warm-up match, Australia and Namibia locked horns and Australia showcased their excellence even after playing with just 9 players and a few support staff. David Warner and Josh Hazelwood’s standout performances secured the win.
Australia faced a Shortage of Players:
The T20 World Cup is all set to be stage within a few days. Before that, teams check their last-time preparations at the warm-up games. The IPL 2024 has been ended just two days ago. Some of the Australian players were playing in the IPL final and they are yet to joining the squad for the T20 World Cup. Within the 15 players, six of them missed the first game.
As there was a shortage of players, Australia had to opt for four substitutes on the field, including head coach Andrew McDonald, assistants Brad Hodge, and Andre Borovec, along with national selector George Bailey. Initially, Borovec, who serves as the fielding coach, and Bailey were designated as the primary substitutes at the start of the game.
Warner and Hazelwood’s Excellence:
In their first Warm-Up game, Australia met Namibia. In that match, the Aussie stars showcased their dominating skills even without having a proper playing xi. While batting in the first innings, David Warner’s exciting unbeaten knock gave a huge boost to the team. He completed his half-century in just 20 balls and remained unbeaten on 54 runs in 21 balls.
While bowling in the second innings, Josh Hazelwood led the way. His 3 overs of allotted 4 went for maiden. During his spell, he conceded only 5 runs and secured 2 wickets with an unbelievable economy rate of 1.25. After the match, ended, he said, “Probably a few of us needed to [play] coming off a big lay off…was good to get out there, playing is always different to training.”
Later he added, “The ball felt like it was coming out pretty good. The wicket looked a little bit tough early, probably a little bit slow, probably what we are going to encounter here in the West Indies so it’s just about keeping it pretty simple, sticking to the top of the stumps, not trying too much and letting the wicket to its work.”
The Aussie Excellence in the First Warm-Up Match:
In the match, Australia won the toss and opted to bowl first. While bowling in the first innings, they dominated the Namibian side. Josh Hazelwood got the first breakthrough by dismissing the Namibian opener Michael van Lingen. He also took another opener in an exciting delivery. Adam Zampa bowled exceptionally well by picking up 3 wickets in 25 runs. Tim David and Nathan Ellis got one each. They restricted Namibia to only 119 runs.
Chasing the target was easy for Australia. While opening the innings, Mitchell Marsh was dismissed in 18 runs in 14 balls. Josh Inglis was walked away after scoring 5 runs in 4 balls. Tim David added 23 runs in 16 balls. David Warner played an excellent unbeaten innings of 54 runs in 21 balls and Matthew Wade was unbeaten on 12 runs in 5 balls. They secured a victory of 7 wickets over Namibia.
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