T20 World Cup 2024: Hazlewood, Warner star in Australia's warm-up win over Namibia

Australia sent a warning to their ICC T20 World Cup 2024 rivals on Tuesday, after registering a convincing seven-wicket win in a warm-up fixture over Namibia at the Port of Spain despite being short-handed.

Forced to take the field with just nine players as several stars are yet to reach after their participation in the IPL, the 2021 champions relied on veteran opener David Warner to chase down 119 with utmost ease. The left-handed batter smashed an unbeaten 54 off just 21 balls, which helped the Aussies chase down the target in just 10 overs.

Warner's rapid-fire fifty provided an early boost after an inconsistent IPL campaign and has raised Australia's hopes of lifting the trophy one more time. Though lacking several frontline players including Pat Cummins, Travis Head, and Mitchell Starc they were simply too strong for an underpowered Namibian side.

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Josh Hazlewood (2/5) and Adam Zampa (3/25) were the best performers with the ball, which resulted in restricting Namibia to 119/9 in 20 overs. The pacer bowled three maiden overs in the first innings, and set the tone right for the Aussies. The chase got off to a blistering start as Warner and skipper Mitchell Marsh (18 off 14) put on 39 in just three overs before Tim David (23 off 16) provided good support.

Interestingly, selector George Bailey, head coach Andrew McDonald, assistant coach Brad Hodge and fielding coach Andre Borovec had to take the field as substitutes due to shortage of fielders.

The Marsh & Co will now face another warm-up match against the hosts West Indies on May 30 before their opening group stage encounter against Oman on June 06.

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The Aussies are placed in Group B alongside England, Namibia, Oman, and Scotland. They will face arch-rivals England on 08 June in Barbados. The side had announced their squad earlier and recently added Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short as the travelling reserves for the upcoming marquee event.