FANTASY
Follow UsIt is the penultimate match in qualifiers stage of T20 World Cup 2021 and Ireland and Namibia will fight for spot in the super’s. In terms of momentum, Namibia are riding high on their thumping win against Netherlands in their second match. As for Ireland, a demoralizing defeat against Sri Lanka has hampered their net run rate pretty badly and they need to win at any cost. With both team in contention, a spicy contest awaits in the first match of the final day
Ireland have played only one match against Namibia and they emerged victorious in that match. This should do some good for their confidence.
SUGGESTED TEAM
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre Based on algorithms, we have come up with one team
GROUND DETAILS
In the recently completed IPL 2021, Sharjah had become a graveyard for batsmen. The slow and sticky pitches made it extremely difficult for the batsmen to play their free-flowing strokes. On an average, only 137 runs were scored in the first innings in 10 matches played at this venue. In comparison, Dubai and Abu Dhabi had seen 150+ in the first innings.
Even though the pitches were slow, the fast bowlers were on top. Most of the wickets by pacers came off slower deliveries, 26.5 percent to be precise. In the 10 matches played in IPL 2021, pacers had bagged 69.7 percent of the wickets as compared to 30.3 percent by spinners. Pacers had picked up a wicket every 17.5 balls in comparison to 22.8 by spinners.
SUGGESTED CAPTAINS
The ex-South African all-rounder David Wiese, who made his move to Namibia recently, would enjoy bowling in these conditions. His pace variations at Sharjah would be lethal. More than that, his all-round show in their win against the Netherlands would be a confidence booster for him. With an unbeaten 66 and a wicket to go with, Wiese is certainly a player to watch out for.
Our Criclytics player projection predicts, Wiese could score 7-11 runs and pick up 0-1 wicket against IRE
X-FACTORS
In this edition of the T20 World Cup, Mark Adair has been sensational with the ball. In his first match, he picked up a three wicket-haul and in his match against Sri Lanka, he bagged two wickets. In T20Is since his debut in 2019, no bowler has bagged more wickets than him – 50. Among pacers who have bowled 60+ overs in T20Is since 2019, his bowling strike rate is the second-joint best.
Another Ireland bowler who had a great start to his T20 World Cup 2021 edition is Joshua Little. The left arm pacer has picked up five wickets in two matches this edition at a bowling strike rate of 9.6 and economy of 4.6. On the back of his 4 for 23 against Sri Lanka, which is his best spell in T20Is, Josh Little is certainly a player to watch out for.
Our Criclytics player projections predicts, Little could pick up 0-1 wicket against NAM
In both the matches, JJ Smit hasn’t got much chance to show his worth with the bat but, the bowling all-rounder in T20Is has done well with both ball and bat. In T20Is, he has scored 300+ runs at an average of 35.4 and strike rate of 151.9 and with the ball, he has picked up 20 wickets at a bowling strike rate of 16.2. With All-round capabilities like this, Smit is certainly an X-factor.
Our Criclytics player projections predicts, Smit could score 16-24 runs and pick up 2-3 wickets against IRE
