Australia has secured its place in the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup after a brilliant effort from Adam Zampa led the side to a nine-wicket thrashing over Namibia.
The Australians bowled Namibia out for 72, with Zampa taking four wickets, and then reached the target with 14 overs to spare.
Namibia’s skipper Gerhard Erasmus accounted for half of his side’s runs, with his 36 coming off 43 balls, but the side was caught on the backend of an Australian attack with their innings ending in 24 minutes.
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Zampa’s spin troubled the middle and lower order, helping him increase his career haul to 100 wickets in T20 internationals.
Meanwhile, Namibia claimed the unwanted award for the lowest team total against Australia in men’s T20Is, with Bangladesh the previous holders with 73 in 2021.
Wins over defending champion England, Oman and Namibia were enough for Australia to secure a spot in the Super 8s regardless of the outcome of its last league game against Scotland.
Adam Zampa celebrates with teammate Marcus Stoinis after bowling Bernard Scholtz of Namibia (not pictured) during the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup. ICC via Getty Images
The 2021 champions only needed 34 deliveries to achieve the 73-run target, with Josh Hazlewood (2-18) striking in the third and fifth overs to have the African line-up in trouble at 15-3.
David Warner plundered 20 from eight balls before Travis Head, (34 off 17) and Mitchell Marsh (18 off nine) steered Australia to 74-1 in 5.4 overs.
Zampa earned the praise of skipper Marsh, who labelled the 32-year-old leg spinner as the most important player in the team over the past five years.
“If you look at his career, over the past four or five years, he is probably our most important player,” Marsh said of Zampa during his post-match interview.
“He loves the big moment, the pressure, and he is bowling beautifully at the moment.
“I thought it was a great performance from our bowling team, we want to try and take early wickets.
“There was a bit of swing out there, it’s a beautiful wicket. All around, a professional performance.”
Australia’s triumph marked the end of Namibia’s T20 campaign, with their loss to Scotland last week the deciding factor.
Gerhard Erasmus of Namibia bats during the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup. ICC via Getty Images
Twenty-nine-year-old Erasmus was disappointed with both his side’s performance and desire.
“You cannot sit back against the best in the world – that is one thing we learnt tonight,” Erasmus said following the match.
“The skill gap is there but you can sort of close that by fighting fire with fire. We did not do that tonight.
“A good side like Australia will expose you if you are not willing to mentally step up on this level.”