T20 World Cup 2024: Ireland banks on stalwarts to fire against newcomer Canada; Namibia eyes second win against Scotland
Ireland will bank on its experienced batters Andy Balbirnie, Paul Stirling and Harry Tector to recover from the pummeling given by India and get its T20 World Cup campaign back on track when it faces a dangerous Canada here on Friday.
Ireland went down by eight wickets against India on Wednesday, while Canada will be eager to recover after a seven-wicket loss to co-host USA.
Playing in its eighth T20 World Cup, Ireland has often struggled to make an impression in the event despite several of its key players playing in English county. In fact, it has made it to the ‘Super 8’ only once in 2009.
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Balbirnie and captain Stirling, who have a combined experience of more than 250 T20Is, were unable to give the side a decent start on a difficult pitch at the Nassau Country Stadium, even as rival skipper Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant showed the way with their batting master-class while guiding India to a huge win.
Tector, a veteran of 77 T20Is, too failed to kick on as Ireland was bowled out for a sub-100 total by the disciplined Indian bowlers, and it requires an urgent turnaround. Ireland will be playing its second match at this venue inside two days and it will be keen to execute the learnings from that.
World Cup newcomer Canada, on the other hand, too is coming off a big defeat against the United States in a high-scoring Group A match in Dallas.
Canada, can, however derive strength from its T20 World Cup Qualifier match against Ireland in 2019. In that match, the it inflicted a crushing 10-wicket defeat on the Irishmen.
In skipper Navneet Dhaliwal, Canada has a veteran top-order batter who was a part of that 2019 victory, and a lot will be riding on him. Canada will also take heart from the defeat against the USA because it had posted an imposing 194 against it and would look for an encore.
SQUADS
Ireland: Paul Stirling (captain), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andy Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little*, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock (wk), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Ben White, Craig Young
Canada: Saad Bin Zafar (captain), Aaron Johnson, Ravinderpal Singh, Navneet Dhaliwal, Kaleem Sana, Dilon Heyliger, Jeremy Gordon, Nikhil Dutta, Pargat Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Rayyankhan Pathan, Junaid Siddiqui, Dilpreet Bajwa, Shreyas Movva and Rishiv Joshi
Namibia looking to build on its ‘Super Over’ victory
Namibia was superb in the ‘Super Over’ win over Oman in its T20 World Cup opener and that trial by fire would have given it the confidence to take on Scotland, who will be playing its second game in Bridgetown after its opener against England was rained off.
The Scots did show their capabilities against the defending T20 World Cup champion, but rain had the last laugh and both teams were forced to share points.
While Namibia would rely heavily on veterans Gerhard Erasmus, the skipper, and all-rounder David Wiese, who have been at the forefront of the country’s cricketing charge.
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They are carrying the experience from the two previous T20 World Cups. Additionally, Namibia also has won its last three T20Is against Scotland, something that will give it a positive frame of mind.
SQUADS
Namibia: Gerhard Erasmus (c), Zane Green, Michael Van Lingen, Dylan Leicher, Ruben Trumpelmann, Jack Brassell, Ben Shikongo, Tangeni Lungameni, Niko Davin, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, JP Kotze, David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Malan Kruger, PD Blignaut
Scotland: Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Brad Currie, Chris Greaves, Oli Hairs, Jack Jarvis, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Charlie Tear, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal