Gerhard Erasmus (53*), David Wiese (28*) yet again shine for Namibia and script history
Namibia 126 for 2 (Erasmus 53*, Wiese 28*, Campher 14/2) beat Ireland 125 for 8 (Stirling 38, Frylinck 21/3, Wiese 22/2) by 8 wickets.
Namibia and Ireland were at loggerheads with each other in the 11th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah to book their spot in Super 12.
Namibia won their previous match against Netherlands to open their account in the first round of the World Cup and their opponent Ireland was steamrolled by Sri Lanka by 70 runs. Both teams needed to win this game to qualify for Super 12.
Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie won the toss and opted to bat first.
Ireland off with an ideal start
Ireland openers Paul Stirling and Kein O’Brien started cautiously early in the innings. In the fourth over of the innings, Stirling pummelled three boundaries off left-arm orthodox spinner Bernard Scholtz. Both openers finished powerplay, piling up 55 runs.
Openers’ effort goes in vain as middle-order surrenders
Finally, Scholtz dismissed Stirling as he played a lofted shot to long on, which was caught by Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton. Stirling made 38 runs off 24 balls with the help of five fours and one six. Left-arm seamer Jan Frylinck bagged the wicket of O’Brien on 25. Scholtz and JJ Smith bowled well to stop the run flow.
On a sluggish pitch, Gareth Delany struggled due to intimidating bowling and got out on 9 when he tried a shot but missed it completely to get bowled. Skipper Balbirnie also went to the pavilion after scoring 21 runs. Wickets fell in heap in the last five overs to restrict the Irish team on just 125 runs in 20 overs at the loss of 8 wickets. Jan Frylinck picked up three wickets conceding just 21 runs.
Namibia lost an early wicket
Craig Wiliams and Zane Green opened the batting for Namibia. Williams slashed two boundaries in the fourth over bowled by Mark Adair, however, he got out on just 15 as O’Brien took a blinder at mid on.
Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus came out to bat at one down. Irish bowlers bowled tight lines to the Namibian batters restricting the run flow in the process.
Read More: ICC T20 WC 2021 - Round 1 - Wanindu Hasaranga blasts Ireland with 71, 1/12; SL win, reach Super 12
David Wiese wins match with whirlwind knock
Erasmus and Green added 48 runs for the third wicket. O’Brien took his second catch to send back Green to the dugout on 24.
All-rounder David Wiese came out all guns blazing to strike two back-to-back monstrous sixes. Erasmus also broke the shackles and danced down the wicket to hit a straight six. He completed his half-century in 48 deliveries by hitting a boundary towards extra cover.
Wiese smashed a four to cover to win the game for his side by eight wickets. He finished his match-winning knock of 28 runs off just 14 balls.
This win registered by Namibia against Ireland will be remembered for ages as Namibia qualified for the Super 12 round with this success in their very first T-20 World Cup.
What Lies Ahead
Namibia qualified for the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup, by securing four points in three games in the first round, while Ireland got eliminated from the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 as they could earn only two points in the first round.
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will join Group 1 of the Super 12 in what could be termed the ‘Group of Death’. This group includes Australia, South Africa, West Indies and England as well. All of these teams possess serious match-winners and clashes in this group will be eagerly followed.
Scotland and Namibia will join Group 2 in the Super 12 which also includes India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Australia will play South Africa in the first match of Super 12 at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on October 23. The match begins at 15:30 hours IST.
Twitter Reactions as Namibia script history
Namibia beat Ireland by eight wickets in Round 1 Group A game and advance to Super 12 stage. A lot of cricket fans congratulated Namibia for this phenomenal feet via their Twitter handle. Here are some of the finest Twitter reactions from NAMvsIRE:
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