T20 WC: Batter Jonny Bairstow believes England players 'were relaxed' against Namibia

Jonny Bairstow. (Picture: ICC)

Saint George [Antigua and Barbuda], June 16 (ANI): England batter Jonny Bairstow said that the English players were 'pretty relaxed' against Namibia during their T20 World Cup 2024 match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

England clinched a 41-run win over Namibia in the Group B match in Antigua.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Bairstow said that there was no point in heating up then when it was raining during the match.

"The guys were pretty relaxed in there to be quite honest with you because there isn't much you can do, there's no point in getting heat up and everything like that. We knew that the weather was planned to pass through and I'm sure you guys saw that it kept doubling back on us for a little bit. So yeah, we're not weather experts, I'm sure that you guys are not weather experts at the same time and I'm pretty sure that the radar's got it wrong most of the time as well," Bairstow said.

The England batter said that the pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium wasn't easy since there were divots coming out of the wicket.

"It wasn't an easy pitch you could see divots coming out of the wicket you could see when they balled spin it stuck in the pitch quite a bit so yeah it was it was a tricky period obviously to lose a couple of wickets early in a T10 you've got to find the right balance as to when to press the accelerator and take a risk and also calculate at the right time because with the hitting that we've got we can always we can always catch up but it's the case of setting a platform to be able to do that and the partnership with Harry and I yeah was really pleasing," he added.

Recapping the match, after rain played a spoilsport, the toss was delayed and later the game was reduced to a 10-over match. Namibia sent England to bat first after winning the toss.

Philip Salt and Jos Buttler failed to give England a fiery kickstart in the game after both the openers were removed from the crease by the third over. Later in the match, Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook helped the Three Lions comeback in a better after adding a few crucial runs on the scoreboard.

At the end of the first inning, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone played a blitz knock and powered England to 122/5.

Trumpelmann led the Namibian bowling attack as he bagged two wickets and gave 31 runs in his two-over spell.

During the run chase, Michael van Lingen and Nikolaas Davin gave a powerful start to the underdogs. Everything was going fine for Namibia but after Davin's injury for which he had to leave the crease, everything changed for them.

David Wiese tried to help Namibia get back on track but Jofra Archer removed the all-rounder in the 10th over and gave England a crucial 41-run win in the T20 World Cup 2024.

Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan were the only wicket-takers for England in the second inning. (ANI)

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