Pierre de Bruyn, head coach of Namibia’s senior cricket side the Eagles, has admitted that today’s Super 12 clash of the ongoing T20 men’s ICC World Cup against top-favourites New Zealand will be another stern test for his charges, but insists they have what it takes to endure the heat.
Projecting his team’s chances ahead of the crucial match, De Bruyn told sportscafe their opponents will be eager to send a strong message with a win over Namibia and although they are well aware of the dangers posed by New Zealand, the Namibian gaffer remains undeterred.
“Yes, we are going in it [the match] to win. But we also know that it’s a great cricket team that we’re facing, and they’ve got their own agenda on how they need to win the game. I’m sure they are not planning to lose the game, especially not against Namibia. But we remain ready to face the heat,” said a buoyant De Bruyn.
For Namibia, the T20 World Cup has been one of their best outings. They have a bunch of players considered the golden generation of a country with a short cricketing history. Many players, including captain Gerhard Erasmus, have been inspired by Namibia’s performance in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
David Wiese, Jonathan Smit, Ruben Rumpelmann, Craig Williams, Michael Leask and others have made it a tournament for Namibia to remember.
Two wins in three games of Round One and qualification to the Super 12s have given Namibia one of their high points in cricket. Namibia, who defeated Ireland and Netherlands in the first round, started off the Super 12s with a four-wicket win over Scotland, before going down to Afghanistan by 62 runs, and Pakistan who won by 45 runs.
New Zealand, who have won two and lost one out of their three matches so far, are currently in third position in Group 2’s log table, while Namibia, on the other hand, are in fifth place, having only won one of three Super 12 matches thus far.
Today’s encounter will see Namibia facing New Zealand for the first time in an international cricket match.
Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson remains optimistic about their chances against Namibia, saying: “There are always things to work on, and there are definitely a few things we want to touch on. We need to adjust quickly to surfaces. Every game is valuable and for us, it is all about playing the cricket we want to play and stay committed to that.”