Namibia and Netherlands will lock horns in the fifth match of the T20 World Cup in Australia.

Both teams won their opening fixtures and head into the fixture with hopes of securing a berth at the Super 12 stage of the competition.

Nobody thought Namibia would thrash the Asian Champions in the tournament opener.

Namibia were put into bat and despite the failure of the top order, they posted a competitive total of 163 runs on the board with the help of a brilliant partnership between Jan Frylinck and JJ Smit.

Ben Shikongo gave the perfect start with the ball for Namibia, Ben scalped a couple of wickets in the same over inside the powerplay, which was the game turning over, the Sri Lankan team couldn’t recover and fell well short of the target. Overall, it was an inspirational team performance by Namibia which makes them a favourite moving into this contest.

On the other hand, Netherlands won a cliffhanger against UAE. A used track at Geelong made it difficult for the batters to accumulate runs.

Though UAE were restricted to a low total of 111 in their allotted 20 overs, Bas de Leede continued his good work with the ball, with the support of Tim Pringle, Fred Klaassen and Roelof van der Merwe.

The chase wasn’t a walk in the park for the Dutch side, they struggled during the middle phase of the innings despite a good powerplay. Scott Edwards and Tim Pringle negotiated the last few runs with a cautious partnership and helped the team get over the line.

The team which wins will almost confirm its place in the next round. So with a lot at stake for both Namibia and Netherlands in today’s mouth-water encounter at Geelong.

Namibia vs Netherlands Pitch Report

The surface in Geelong has a fair bit of assistance for the fast bowlers in the initial overs. It’s not a happy hunting ground for the batters who struggle due to the long boundaries at the venue. Spinners will prove to be crucial in the middle over. The team winning the toss would likely opt to bat first as the pitch here seems to slow down in the latter half of the second innings.

Namibia vs Netherlands Probably Playing XIs

Namibia: Michael van Lingen, Divan la Cock, Stephan Baard, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (c), Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit, David Wiese, Zane Green (wk), Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo

Netherlands: Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Bas de Leede, Tom Cooper, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Roelof van der Merwe, Tim Pringle, Logan van Beek, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren