Match details
England vs Namibia
June 15, Antigua, 13:00 local time
Big picture: England breathe easier after win
But at least the speed and certainty of that performance in Oman – as ingloriously executed as their opponents – has put England’s progress back into their own handsβ¦ sort of. Raising their net percentage to that of the Scots (3.08 to 2.16), they can now breathe easier knowing that a win of any size against Namibia will improve that figure even further and therefore be enough to take them keep lesson for the Super Eight.
They certainly did just that in bowling Namibia out for 72 in Antigua on Tuesday. It was a display of almost identical dominance to England’s crushing of Oman – all in one run from 34 balls, to England’s 19, with nine wickets to England’s eight and their star man Adam Zampa claiming 4 for 12 in 4 for 11 by Adil Rashid. The only real difference was in the resistance offered by Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus on 36 off his 43 balls.
England have no room for complacency given their uncertainty last week, but if this team is truly forged in Butler’s captain’s image, then surely confidence breeds confidence. They have restored a degree of practicality to their tournament narrative. It would be one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history if they let this chance of qualification slip away now, before Scotland have the chance to spoil the party on Sunday.
Form guide
England: WLWWL (Last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Namibia: LLTWW
In the spotlight – Adil Rashid and David Wiese
Team news
England (probable): 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Alli, 8 Jofra Archer/Sam Curran, 9 Mark Wood/Chris Jordan , 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley
Namibia mixed things up in their last outing against Australia, with Ben Shikongo and Jack Brassell making their first appearances of the campaign – and likely to last as well, after blasting for a combined 33 runs off ten balls in a one-sided drive – chase. Of Namibia’s 15-man squad, only 20-year-old fighter Dylan Leicher is yet to take part. With their hopes of qualification over, there may be a temptation to reshape again.
Namibia (probable): 1 JP Kotze, 2 Nikolaas Davin, 3 Jan Frylinck, 4 Gerhard Erasmus (capt), 5 Malan Kruger, 6 Zane Green (wk), 7 David Wiese, 8 Ruben Trumpelmann, 9 JJ Smit, 10 Bernard Scholtz, 11 Tangeni Lungameni
Step and conditions
England were pleasantly surprised by both the transfer to the surface for the Oman game and the degree of spin Rashid got. After wet conditions in Barbados, the Antigua leg was run under clearer skies, so another full race is expected.
Stats and trivia
Quotation marks
“There were obviously some negatives that were thrown around and questions were asked, and I’m really happy for the bowling unit that we came out and managed to put on a show.”
Mark Woodthe England fast bowler was proud of the way his team responded against Oman
Andrew Miller is ESPNcricinfo’s UK editor. @miller_cricket