Australia defeat Namibia in their T20 World Cup warm up match. (ICC website)
9-man Australian cricket team had to enlist the help of selection chief George Bailey and fielding coach Andre Borovec in the T20 World Cup warm up match against Namibia due to some of their regular players being unavailable.
Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green were all absent from the squad, taking some time off their after their IPL commitments.
Bailey and Borovec were also joined by batting coach Brad Hodge and head coach Andrew McDonald when captain Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood were off the field. Borovec and Bailey even took catches for their team.
Australia called on their veteran support staff to make up the numbers as they flexed their muscles for a comfortable win against Namibia in their first #T20WorldCup warm-up.@LouisDBCameron has all the details from Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad 👇
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) May 29, 2024
Despite all the setbacks, the 2021 T20 World Cup champions chased down Namibia’s total of 119/9 in dominant fashion with 10 overs remaining with a quickfire half century from David Warner (54*).
“When it comes to these tournaments he always stands up as we know so I expect nothing but big things again from the Bull (Warner). He looked good out there on what looked a pretty tough wicket and he timed the ball pretty well from the outset. So we always expect big things from Davey,” seamer Josh Hazlewood said to Cricket Australia after the match.
The imposing combo of Borovec (square leg) and Bailey (fine leg) patrolling the leg side #T20WorldCup https://t.co/nNGX1avm9k pic.twitter.com/jkmg8ZuEyF
— Louis Cameron (@LouisDBCameron) May 28, 2024
Hazlewood took 2 wickets while spinner Adam Zampa pitched in with 3 with Zane Green top-scoring for Namibia with 38 runs.
Australia’s next warm up match is against West Indies on May 31 and they will begin their T20 World Cup tournament proper on June 6 against Oman. They will then take on archrivals England on June, followed by a match against Namibia on June 12 and then end the group stage commitments with an encounter with Scotland.
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