Namibia cricket team will face India’s state team, Punjab, in the first of five-match One-Day series starting from today. The matches are set to take place at Wanderers cricket ground in Windhoek as the visitors have named a host of Indian Premier League (IPL) stars for this series. Moreover, it will also help the Namibia side to gear up for their upcoming tour of Scotland.
This is not the first time that Cricket Namibia has collaborated with a state association of Indian cricket. Last year, Karnataka cricket team had toured Namibia for a five-match One-Day series and ended up winning it 3-2. Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad players who featured for the franchises in IPL 2024 are playing in this series. Naman Dhir, Nehal Wadhera and Ramandeep Singh played for five-time champions MI while Sanvir Singh and Mayank Markande turned up for finalists SRH during the season.
The likes of Gurnoor Singh Brar, Harpreet Brar and Prabhsimran Singh featured for Punjab Kings earlier this year and all these players will be keen on performing well in this series as it will be a great experience for them playing away from home in tough conditions.
Wanderers cricket ground, Windhoek Pitch Report
The surface at the Wanderers cricket grounds in Windhoek is expected to be decent enough for batting. With this being a 9:30 AM (local time) start, there will be some early help for the fast bowlers before conditions ease out for batting. A score around 260-270 will be good for teams batting first.
NAM vs PUN – Windhoek One-Day Numbers Game
Matches Played – 22
Matches won batting first – 12
Matches won bowling first – 9
Average first inns score – 219
Highest total – 291
Lowest total – 81
Highest score chased – 255
Lowest score defended – 198
Squads
Namibia – Malan Kruger, Lohan Louwrens, Michael van Lingen, Gerhard Erasmus, JC Balt, JP Kotze, Dylan Leicher, PD Blignaut, Junior, Ben Shikongo, Tangeni Lungameni, Ruben Trumpelmann, Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit, Zacheo van Vuuren, Shaun Fouche, Max Heingo, Zane Green, Alex Volschenk
Punjab – Naman Dhir, Sanvir Singh, Pukhraj Mann, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Aradhya Shukla, Uday Pratap Saharan, Nehal Wadhera, Harpreet Brar, Ramandeep Singh, Mayank Markande, Jass Inder Singh, Siddharth Kaul, Anmolpreet Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Anmol Malhotra
