Namibia v England Prediction: Can 7/1 David come good against the Goliath that is England?

It’s Namibia v England on Saturday, June 14 (18:00, Sky Sports Cricket) at North Sound as England carry on battling to avoid an early exit and will need a big win here to stay alive.

James Pacheco was on the money again with Adil Rashid at 100/30 for top bowler last time out and was unlucky to miss out on a winner on Phil Salt, as well. There’s little value in England’s players this time but there’s good value on a 7/1 chance for top Namibia bat while the skipper Gerard Erasmus is a decent 100/30 to be their top bowler in our Namibia vs England T20 World Cup Predictions...

Namibia

Namibia have been ok this tournament with a Super Over win over Oman followed by a decent effort against a strong-looking Scotland side, albeit in defeat.

But an absolute hammering at the hands of Australia was a good reminder of the gap between some of these Associate Nations and the very best in the business.

Skipper Gerard Erasmus has impressed with bat, ball and captaincy, while Rubel Trumpelmann took five wickets in three matches and veteran David Wiese, as usual, contributed in both disciplines, too. Most notably when batting in the Super Over against Oman and then bowling it to win the game.

It may be the last chance to see the 39-year-old at a World Cup but then again, we’ve thought that before.

Possible XI: van Lingen, Davin, Frylinck, Erasmus, Smit, Green, Wiese, Trumpelmann, Scholz, Brassell, Shikongo.

England

It may not matter in the end if Josh Hazlewood’s cheeky suggestion that Australia might take it easy against Scotland in order to help eliminate England is put into practice, but at least England did their bit against Oman.

Dismissing them for just 47 and chasing the total after 3.1 overs is as comprehensive as it gets in a T20I and has improved their chances of qualification by massively improving their net run rate.

Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Adli Rashid hogged the wickets column with the first two taking three wickets each and the latter taking 4/11 to hand us another winner on the leggie at 100/30 for a fourth successive day of good profits.

Reece Topley came in for Chris Jordan and went wicketless but was economical and should keep his place.

Possible XI: Buttler, Salt, Jacks, Bairstow, Ali, Brook, Livingstone, Archer, Rashid, Wood, Topley.

Pitch and conditions

We’re back at North Sound, the venue for Namibia’s thrashing against Australia and England’s over Oman. In both matches the outsiders were dismissed cheaply but that’s as a result of some excellent bowling and some poor batting rather than any demons in the pitch.

You’d think that both England and Australia would have threatened to get to 190 if they’d batted first.

England will probably look to get to 200 even if it means losing a fair few wickets in the process, while hoping to restrict Namibia to about 110 so they can chase it as quickly as possible. Expect the words ‘Net Run Rate’ to be used in commentary many a time during the match.

Namibia vs England Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Namibia vs England T20 World Cup market page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Namibia are 12/1. It’s not impossible that batting first England go for broke, lose early wickets, recover and end up posting say 150 all out in their bid for quick runs, meaning an unlikely chase could be on. But it’s just that: unlikely. Even if that happened, the pace and aggression of Wood and Archer would probably be too much for Namibia’s batters to handle anyway.

It looks a big price but sometimes we have to turn these down.

Namibia Top Batsman

It was notable how Oman just couldn't deal with Wood and Archer in the opening overs on Thursday. And why would they? They would only face that speed and extra bounce when they play at World Cups, whereas Adil Rashid’s leg spin had them absolutely bamboozled.

Ok, Namibia’s batters are a step up from that but whether they bat first or chase, they could easily be three or four down pretty early on a wicket that offers something for all types of bowlers.

Which could open the door to that man Wiese. He’s one of the few that will have faced that sort of pace bowling from his days with South Africa and in the IPL and may just decide to swing for the rooftops rather than try to stick around. 30 runs may well be enough to win this heat and although chances may be limited down at seven, if our theory is correct, he may come in much sooner than they would have liked. He’s worth a gamble at 7/1.

Namibia Top Bowler

Wiese is also a lively runner in the Namibia top bowler market at 11/4 but I prefer the chances of the skipper Erasmus at 100/30.

He’s on four wickets, one behind Trumpelmann, and only the latter has bowled more overs (10) than Erasmus’ nine. The off-spinner has the best economy rate (always a sign he’s bowling well), in the team at a superb 6.11. And it may just be that England go after him in a bid to hit plenty of sixes more so than the pace bowlers, which could lead to their downfall. Enough reasons to back him at that price.

Jamie Pacheco predominantly covers Cricket for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out his Cricket Betting Tips, along with those from the rest of the team, at our Cricket hub page...