Namibia won the toss and opt to bowl
A dream starts with the ball for Namibia to kick off their T20 World Cup campaign. The decision to win the toss and bowl has worked like a charm for them. Trumpelmann trapped Prajapati in front on the first ball of the innings. He then caught Ilyas wanting with a booming inswing to get two in two. Naseem Khushi was his next victim as he struck again in his second over. A below-par powerplay pushed Oman on the back foot. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and couldn’t get any sort of momentum into their innings. The ball gripped for the spinners as Scholtz and Erasmus bowled brilliantly. A couple of cameos from Zeeshan Maqsood and Khalid Kail were the only saving grace for Oman. Wiese was brilliant in the death overs with his changes of pace while Trumpelmann took another to finish with a 4-fer. There’s extra bounce on offer for the pacers and there’s turn for the spinners. But, Namibia will fancy themselves to chase down this paltry score.
Bernard Scholtz: The atmosphere is great in the Caribbean, everyone was excited for this first game. The pitch held up a bit and we tried to stick to good areas. You couldn’t ask for more – two wickets in two balls. Perfect start. He got the ball to shape nicely. The wicket is sticking a bit, we need to assess it quickly and play positively.
So, after 40 overs of cricket, Namibia and Oman can’t be separated. This was a simple chase but Namibia were a bit tepid in their approach and the pitch was also a bit sluggish. They lost a wicket in the first over, and were at pretty much a run a ball after the powerplay. Post that, the spinners kept things tight as Namibia found it tough to attack them. Skipper Erasmus played a rash shot across the line, and so did Smut. Oman were favorites at one point but David Wiese hit a timely six in the penultimate over to keep the equation in check. With 5 needed in the final over, it was advantage Namibia but Mehran Khan bowled a superb over to take this game into extra time. If only Oman were a bit better with their fielding, they could have closed this game out within regulation time…
WE HAVE A SUPER OVER!!
So, a whooping 21 runs scored by Namibia in their Super Over. They struggled to chase 110 in 20 and now have got so many in just one over. Cricket can be a funny game sometimes. They have the advantage now, let’s see how they defend this Super Over!
Namibia have scored 21 off the Super Over! Namibia failed to get over the line while chasing 110 but have managed to come out with flying colors in the Super Over. Bilal Khan didn’t bowl a bad over apart from the juicy full-toss. But, both Wiese and Erasmus manipulated the field by using the crease and played inventive shots to give their side a real chance to defend this one.
Wiese pumps his hands in the air in delight and Erasmus has a wry smile on his face and he jogs over to congratulate his teammates. He will know that his side have got through a tight one today, got through after nearly missing a straight forward chase. After a tightly contested game across 40 overs, the Super Over ended up being one-sided as Namibia whacked 21 runs while batting first. A four and a six from Wiese, followed up by two boundaries by Erasmus off the final two balls. Then with the ball in hand, Wiese was on point with his Yorkers, keeping it tight in the blockhole and giving nothing to work with for the Oman batters. He ended up getting the wicket of Khushi and Oman could only manage 10 in reply, that is after a last ball six.
David Wiese | Player of the Match: Lost a couple of years tonight, don’t know how many I have left in me now. Just been that kind of an emotionally draining game. (On his Super Over bowling) I had a feel for the wicket and knew what I had to execute in the Super Over. The pitch was difficult, was a bit two-paced and different to what we expected. I think we adapted well and it was surely a pitch where you had to spend some time out there. I think if we were chasing 180, we would have had to attack without thinking too much about the pitch, so tough to say what would have been a par total on this wicket.