NEW DELHI: Australia, with only nine players available, required the assistance of four support staff members, including the chief selector and head coach, to take the field in their
T20 World Cup
warm-up match against Namibia.
Despite the unusual circumstances, Australia emerged victorious by seven wickets, thanks to impressive performances from
David Warner
(54 not out off 21 balls), a fit-again
Josh Hazlewood
(2/5), and leg-spinner
Adam Zampa
(3/25).
They successfully chased down Namibia's total of 119 with 10 overs to spare.
Also see: India T20 World Cup squad: List of players, match date, time and venue
Due to the extended break given to several key players, such as Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Mitchell Starc, Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, and Glenn Maxwell following their participation in the two-month-long IPL, chief selector and former captain
George Bailey
and head coach
Andrew McDonald
were among the support staff who had to take the field. 46-year-old fielding coach Andre Borovec also joined Bailey on the field when skipper Mitchell Marsh chose to bowl against Namibia.
As Marsh and Hazlewood returned to the dressing room, McDonald and 49-year-old batting coach Brad Hodge had to step in to fill their positions on the field.
Hazlewood, playing his first game in three months, appeared to be in good form. "Obviously, we didn't have a full quota of players but the guys who played, probably a few of us needed to coming off a big layoff," Hazlewood told cricket.com.au after the game on Tuesday. "I know a number of the bowlers were coming off a long break which is pretty unusual in our system, but it's good to get out there, playing is always different to training."
He added, "The wicket looked a little bit tough early, a little bit slow, which is probably what we're going to encounter here in the West Indies. So a nice hit out, got the result and we move onto the West Indies in a few days."
It is worth noting that Australia's Test and ODI skipper Cummins, Head, and Starc were part of the IPL final played in Chennai on Sunday.
(Inputs from PTI)
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