T20 World Cup 2024: Adam Zampa Stars as Australia Annihilate Namibia to Seal Super 8 Spot

Add as a preferred source on Google

Adam Zampa starred with the ball again as Australia sealed Super 8 spot from Group B following a commanding 9-wicket win over Namibia in match 24 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua & Barbuda on Wednesday (June 12).

Australia led by Zampa (4 for 12 in 4 overs) put up a complete bowling performance to bundle out Namibia for a meagre 72 before gunning down the target in just 34 balls with Travis Head and skipper Mitchell Marsh remaining unbeaten on 34 and 18 respectively.

David Warner (20 off 8 balls) also contributed as the three Australian batters scored at a strike rate of 200 or more in their swift run chase. David Wiese was the lone wicket-taker for Namibia.

With three wins in a row, Australia became the first team to book a Super 8 spot from their group with a match in hand. They take on Scotland at Gros Islet in their concluding Group B fixture on Saturday.

For Namibia, it was their second loss in three games, eliminating them from the Super 8 race. Scotland and England are fighting for the second Super spot from Group B.

Earlier, put into bat, skipper Gerhard Erasmus alone made notable contribution of 36 from 43 balls as the rest of the batters failed to step up and put up a fight against the Australian bowlers.

For Australia, Josh Hazlewood (2/18) and Marcus Stoinis (2/9) also took a couple of wickets while skipper Pat Cummins and Nathan Ellis chipped in with a wicket each.

"I thought it was a great performance from the bowling team. Swing was around and all-round a professional performance. It's really important and great to qualify for the super eights," said Marsh after the thumping win on Tuesday (June 11) night.

Zampa continued his form with the balll and bagged the player of the match awad. Marsh reserved special praise for the leg-spinner, who has tallied eight wickets in three games.

"If you look at his career over the last 4-5 years, he is probably our most important player. He loves the pressure and he is bowling well at the moment and we are lucky to have him," he added.

Namibia skipper Erasmus said his team tried fighting fire with fire when facing one of the world's best teams and failed in all aspects of the game following their second defeat of the tournament.

"You can't sit back against the best in the world. The skill gap is there, we tried to close that by fighting fire with fire but we did not do that in this tournament so far," said Erasmus.