Team news, likely XIs, form guide, players to watch, odds, TV and streaming information, weather forecast, umpire appointments and everything else you need to know
Ireland take on Namibia in the preliminary round of the T20 World Cup.
The game is scheduled for 2pm local time (11am BST) on Friday, October 20, 2021.
The game will be held at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah.
Sharjah Cricket Stadium: Ground guide
The knock-out phase comes ahead of schedule as Namibia and Ireland battle it out for the last remaining place in the Super 12.
Both sides have a defeat and a victory to their name, though they arrive in Sharjah with vastly different expectations.
The pair have each collected victories over Netherlands, who bar Papua New Guinea have been the weakest nation in the competition.
While Ireland prevailed by seven wickets in their opening game, Namibia beat the Dutch by six after chasing down 165 to claim their first World Cup success.
Neither threatened an upset against Sri Lanka, however, losing by seven wickets (Namibia) and 70 runs (Ireland).
Their only previous meeting came in the 2019 qualifier for this competition, with Ireland edging home by 29 runs.
Meanwhile, in the ICC T20 rankings, they're separated by seven positions with Andrew Balbirnie's side sitting in 12th and Gerhard Erasmus' cohorts 19th.
Dafabet have Ireland as the favourites to progress, offering odds of 1/2 to prevail. Namibia are available at 13/8 to make it back-to-back World Cup wins.
David Wiese has five tournament sixes and you can back Namibia to clear the rope the most times at 8/5. The Irish have hit five between them but can be backed at 3/4 to plunder the most maximums.
In the pair's only previous meeting in Dubai just under two years ago, Simi Singh proved the difference with 3 for 25 as Namibia were bowled out for 108 in the chase.
But Singh, who turns 35 in February, has struggled in Ireland's opening two games here and is wicketless from seven overs with an economy rate at 9.71.
Key with the new ball and in the middle order, it is hard to ignore David Wiese in the Namibia line-up.
The former South Africa international has gone at an impressive economy rate of 7.16 from his six overs and cracked Namibia's only half-century of the competition in the successful chase against Netherlands.
Craig Young was wicketless and unthreatening against Sri Lanka and is likely to make way as the tournament heads to Sharjah, where the pitch is expected to suit the spinners. That could mean a recall for Ben White while George Dockrell may also be called on.
Namibia will be reticent to make many alterations following the win over Netherlands. Pikky Ya France will hope to hold off Michael va Lingen.
The following umpires and match referees have been named by the ICC to officiate in the T20 World Cup 2021:
Referees: David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Javagal Srinath
Umpires: Chris Brown, Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere, Rod Tucker, Joel Wilson, Paul Wilson
The following officials have been allocated to this fixture:
On-field umpires: Dar, Brown
TV umpire: Illlingworth
Fourth umpire: J Wilson
Referee: Crowe
Full T20 World Cup officials appointments: Click here
Temperatures are expected to climb to 33 degrees Celsius in Sharjah.
Follow the Met Office forecast here.
Yes, though Covid protocols including the wearing of face masks will be in place.
Click here to visit the ICC's ticketing site.
Namibia are riding the crest of a wave but Ireland's players are more used to the kind of pressure that comes with a virtual knock-out game. Their batting line-up should ensure they have too much in a low-scoring encounter.
T20 WORLD CUP TEAM GUIDES
Sky Sports Cricket (Sky 404, Talk Talk 404, BT TV 423, Virgin 504) will broadcast the series in the United Kingdom, with the content available online via its streaming platform Sky Go.
BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra will have live ball-by-ball radio commentary of all tournament matches, accessible through the BBC Sport website, BBC Sounds or DAB radio.
The Star Sports network is showing the tournament in India. Matches can be streamed via Disney+ Hotstar
Other broadcasters by territory:
Australia - Fox Sports, Channel 9, Kayo Sports
New Zealand – Sky Sport New Zealand
Pakistan - PTV Sports, Ten Sports
Bangladesh - Ghazi Tv (GTV)
Sri Lanka – SLRC (Channel Eye)
South Africa – SuperSport
Caribbean – ESPN
Middle East and North Africa – eLife TV, StarzPlay, Switch TV
USA – ESPN+
Singapore - Star Cricket, Star Hub and Singtel
Malaysia - Fox International Channels
Hong Kong - Star Cricket
Namibia: Gerhard Erasmus (c), Stephen Baard, Karl Birkenstock. Michau du Preez, Jan Frylinck, Zane Green, Nicol Lofie-Eaton, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo, JJ Smit, Ruben Trumpelmann, Michael van Lingen, David Wiese, Craig Williams, Picky Ya France
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Kevin O’Brien, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young
Namibia: Stephan Baard, Zane Green, Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Pikky Ya France, Bernard Scholtz
Ireland: Paul Stirling, Kevin O'Brien, Andy Balbirnie, Gareth Delany, Curtis Campher, Harry Tector, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Mark Adair, Josh Little, Ben White
T20 World Cup Hub: News, features, stats, live scores
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