Aaaaand we're all set. There's a song playing, gotta Shazam. Never mind. One slip in, Munsey on strike, and both teams are taking a knee. Trumpelmann runs in...

RIght then, we have the teams lining up for the national anthems now.

Teams:

Scotland (Playing XI): George Munsey, Matthew Cross(w), Calum MacLeod, Richie Berrington(c), Craig Wallace, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Josh Davey, Safyaan Sharif, Bradley Wheal

Namibia (Playing XI): Craig Williams, Zane Green(w), Gerhard Erasmus(c), David Wiese, Michael van Lingen, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Pikky Ya France, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz

Richie Berrington | Scotland captain: Kyle Coetzer is nursing a finger injury so I'm standing in as his deputy today. Craig Wallace comes in for him. We are putting the Afghanistan game to one side now, and we are happy with the cricket we are playing at the moment. It doesn't throw us off, and we are ready to get back on track. Namibia are a strong side, and it'll be a good game, but we are ready and raring to go.

Gerhard Erasmus | Namibia captain: We're having a bowl. The dew plays a big role and we have a strong bowling attack, so we hope we can perform. It was an emotional group stage, and we have to regroup after that. Wiese is a great performer, but 10 other guys are raring to go today. There's a lot of potential and we want to unleash them as well. We play each other often, so we know them quite well. We are going in with the same side, no changes.

Namibia have won the toss and have opted to field

TOSS TIME! - In a bit. Soz.

The Achilles' heels are laid bare, and there to exploit for either side. Who will come out on top? We await the toss, which should take place in about 10 minutes. We're all set for an interesting battle here in Abu Dhabi...

17:20 Local Time, 13:20 GMT, 18:50 IST: Now then, how do these sides match up? Firstly, with dew playing a major role, it is most likely that the team winning the toss will look to bowl first, given that the last 5 games has seen the team batting first win only once. David Wiese has been one of Namibia's shining lights, but they can ill-afford to get too reliant on him, given cricket's tryst with the law of averages showing up at the worst of times. The treatment is simple: start better. Start better, and you won't need a rescue act. As for Scotland, despite their dream run into the Super-12s, their performance (or lack thereof) against the spin of Rashid and Mujeeb was appalling, though not altogether surprising, given their lack of exposure to quality spin.

5:00PM local time | 6:30PM IST: It's showtime here in Abu Dhabi! The top associate team of Group A (Namibia) stand broad-chested on one end, to meet another with even more daunting recent credentials - an associate nation that upstaged a Test-playing nation for the top spot (Scotland) and now search for an opening spark in the Super 12s. There couldn't be a better opportunity to gather early momentum for either of the sides. Two evenly-matched sides, with an oomph in their game, after a heartening group stage. Who will it be? Let's start with a sultry welcome to you all at Abu Dhabi...

Preview by Akash Sarkar

The Overview:

"It's been quite tough times during COVID over the last two years. If I can say, economy-wise, it's been quite tough in Namibia. Everyone is quite excited to see athletes do well in sport, and it has the power to change the mood in the country. This, and our Olympians doing well over the last couple of months, it's a great sporting achievement that has really uplifted the spirits of the nation back home, and we're a very proud team to have done that."

Gerhard Erasmus isn't getting carried away with Namibia making it to the Super 12 stage of ICC T20 World Cup but understands his team has achieved something that can have a lasting impact of the cricket back home in a good way. Things are set to get tougher before they play the full member nations but a win against Scotland is a chance for Erasmus's men to capitalise on the momentum and gain another World Cup win. The Namibia captain was also quick to warn Scotland "that there's some potential sitting in the dugout that will right sometime in the tournament".


Scotland had an evening to forget against Afghanistan - slipping to a massive 130-run loss - and will hope to find some quick fixes before New Zealand, India and Pakistan come calling.

When: Scotland vs Namibia, Super 12, Group 2, 18:00 Local, 19:30 IST

Where: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

What to expect: In the last five matches at the venue, only once has the team batting first won (Sri Lanka hammering Ireland by 70 runs). With dew again expecting to play a part, the captains would want to chase.

T20I Head to Head: Scotland 0-2 Namibia

Team Watch:

Scotland

Injury/Availability Concerns: Scotland don't have any injury concerns ahead of the clash.

Tactics & Matchups: Both Scotland and Namibia have a pace-heavy attack. However, Namibia will want to target Scotland's weakness against spin. Scotland lost 6 for 53 against Bangladesh and then were 60 all out against Aghanistan - losing nine wickets to Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman. Bernard Scholtz and Pikky Ya France will be key against Scotland's batters.

Probable XI: George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer (c), Matthew Cross (wk), Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Josh Davey, Safyaan Sharif, Bradley Wheal

Namibia

B9$ Namibia too have all their 15 players available for selection.

B10$ If playing spin in Scotland's issue, Namibia have been hurt by starting troubles. In the first round, Namibia had to second-lowest run rate in the powerplay and the onus will be on Craig Williams and Zane Green to give the side a fast start. The latter strikes them at 77.50 in the powerplay and needs to improve to transfer the pressure early on their opponents.

B11$Zane Green (wk), Craig Williams, Michael van Lingen, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Pikky Ya France, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz

Did you know?

- Scotland have lost 15 of their 30 wickets to spin in the tournament so far - the most by any team.

- Namibia have won eight of the nine T20Is this year.

What they said:

"We played Scotland quite a lot. I think all of the players know each other, and the matchups are there. I don't think there will be any surprises from any side. It's about who can execute the best on the day." - Erasmus.

"We had a very brief chat (about the loss against Afghanistan). It obviously was very disappointing, but at the same time, T20 comes quick and fast, so there wasn't too much dwelling and chat on the game specifically." - Matthew Cross.

Squads:

Namibia Squad: Craig Williams, Zane Green(w), Michael van Lingen, Gerhard Erasmus(c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Pikky Ya France, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz, Stephan Baard, Michau du Preez, Karl Birkenstock, Ben Shikongo

Scotland Squad: George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer(c), Matthew Cross(w), Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Josh Davey, Safyaan Sharif, Bradley Wheal, Alasdair Evans, Craig Wallace, Dylan Budge, Hamza Tahir