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Liam Livingstone (Source-ICC)
Defending champions England kept their T20 World Cup Super-8 Stages hopes alive with a 41-run win over Namibia. Persistent rain had kept the English team on the edge as they had to win their game to be in the hunt for a place in the next stage.
The match eventually started out as an 11-over affair before it became a ten over game due to one more rain interruption. Liam Livingstone stole the headlines as he played one of the most outrageous shots of the tournament.
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The English all-rounder came out to bat in the final over of the innings. In his very first ball he got a length ball from the Namibian pacer which he hit for a huge six. What made this shot more special was that it was played with one hand to make it really remarkable.
Gerhard Erasmus won the toss and chose to bowl first as the Namibians just one change to their team. England decided to rest Mark Wood and Will Jacks as Chris Jordan and Sam Curran came into the playing XI.
Clinical England keep their hopes alive with a crucial win
Phil Salt and Jos Buttler came out to open and found the going tough in the first few overs. Ruben Trumpelmann struck the first blow when he bowled Jos Buttler for a duck. David Wiese playing his last game for Namibia then got the wicket of Phil Salt to England at 13/2 in the 3rd over.
Harry Brook joined Jonny Bairstow as the pair added 56 runs for the 3rd wicket from 5 overs. That stand was broken when Bernard Scholtz had Bairstow caught behind by Zane Green for 31 off 19 balls.
Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone gave the finishing touches to the English innings with 16 and 13 respectively. The top scorer for England was Harry Brook who was not out on 47 off 20 balls with four boundaries and 2 sixes to help his side reach 122/5 from 10 overs
Niko Davin was retired hurt after scoring 18 off 16 balls as Michael Van Lingen scored 33 runs from 29 balls. David Wiese tried his best to give his team the impetus as he hit a 12-ball 27 but it wasn’t enough. England’s bowlers showed their experience to restrict their opposition to 84 runs and win the match by 41 runs. The English side will now pray that Australia can beat Scotland and help them reach the next phase of the tournament.