Namibia vs England predictions: Openers can shine again
- England’s average opening partnership over their last nine T20Is is 59.33
- Jos Buttler is England’s highest ever T20I run scorer with 3116
- Recommended bet: England opening partnership over 28.5 runs
England recorded a dominant victory over Oman to put themselves back in the driving seat when it comes to their chances of progressing to the Super 8s at the T20 World Cup.
They chased a total of 47 in just 3.1 overs to produce a big net run-rate swing and ensure that victory in this game against Namibia, coupled with a defeat for Scotland against Australia, will see Jos Buttler’s men through to the next stage.
Team news
Reece Topley was brought in by England last time out and despite going wicketless, he was economical and should keep his spot.
That should mean the defending champions are unchanged from the Oman victory, with Chris Jordan, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett and Tom Hartley missing out.
For Namibia, Ben Shikongo may lose his spot in the starting XI after some mediocre performances.
The stats
Moeen Ali is just one wicket away from becoming the seventh England player to take 50 T20I wickets.
The average run rate from the three games at this venue in this year’s World Cup is 7.55 runs per over.
Namibia has an all-time T20 record of two wins and six defeats against Test playing nations excluding Zimbabwe.
The average first innings T20I score in North Sound is just 128.
Prediction
England’s batting line-up disappointed in their defeat to Australia but they bounced right back with a dominant win over minnows Oman.
Buttler’s men bowled their opponents out for 47, thanks to Adil Rashid’s 4/12, before teeing off to chase the total in just 19 balls.
The opening partnership between Salt and Buttler lasted just three balls after the former smashed the first two for six, but with net run rate concerns redundant, a more patient approach will follow in this game.
Salt and Buttler have proven to be a potent opening partnership in T20I cricket and they can continue that trend here.
Their last nine times opening the batting together have spawned opening partnerships of 77, 9, 115, 117, 24, 25, 82, 73 and 12.
That renders their average partnership over those nine games an impressive 59.33 and they should have more success against a Namibia side that only managed to take one Australian wicket last time out.
