Wiese - Erasmus' 93-run partnership lead Namibia to their first World Cup victory
Namibia 166 for 4 (Wiese 66, Seelaar 8/1) beat Netherlands 164 for 4 (O’Dowd 70, Frylinck 26/2) by six wickets.
The seventh match of the first round under Group A was played between Namibia and Netherlands at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus won the toss and opted to field.
Max O’Dowd started positively in powerplay
Netherland dropped their highest run-getter in T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019/20, Ben Cooper for Stephan Myburg.
Netherland’s opener Max O’Dowd smashed two boundaries in the second over of the innings bowled by David Wiese. Also, the 27-year-old batter sent a short delivery bowled by Ruben Trumpelmann over the ropes by a mighty pull shot.
His partner Myburg got out by edging behind the wicket while attempting an uppercut to a slower delivery bowled by Jan Frylinck.
O’Dowd and Ackermann added 82 runs in the middle overs
One down batter Roelof van der Merwe smashed one boundary but got caught by Scholtz on fine third man after making just 6 runs. Next batter Colin Ackermann and O’Dowd batted sensibly to take their side above 120.
To get more runs in the last overs, Ackermann went for big strokes; he smashed one maximum over the deep backward square leg boundary. He perished in the same over while playing a pull shot over deep mid-wicket.
O’Dowd got run out on 70 in the final over of the innings. He smashed six fours and one six in his vital knock. Wicketkeeper batter Scott Edwards played some shots in the end overs to take his side to 164 runs in 20 overs, losing only four wickets in the process.
Namibia lose three wickets in first 10 overs
While chasing 165 runs, Namibia openers started well with 41 runs in powerplay overs after losing just one wicket. Fred Klaassen bowled out Zane Green on 15 in the fifth over. Namibia lost two more wickets in the next few overs. Craig Williams got bowled by Ackermann on 11, whereas Stephan Baard got bowled by Pieter Seelaar on 19.
David Wiese, Gerhard Erasmus change momentum with brutal hitting
New batter Gerhard Erasmus, the skipper of Namibia, hammered two sixes to van der Merwe, also his partner David Wiese smashed two sixes and one four to gather 19 runs in the over bowled by Ackermann.
Both players collected 15 runs in the over bowled Bas de Leede by smashing three fours. David Wiese smacked a six over deep extra cover to complete his fifty in just 29 balls. Wiese continued to attack bowers but his partner succumbed to Timm van der Gugten on 32, as he was caught by wicketkeeper Scott Edwards.
With only 15 runs needed in the last two overs, JJ Smith, who was the second-highest run-getter for Namibia in T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019/20, smashed two boundaries to win the game for his side. Wiese remained not-out on 66 off just 40 deliveries comprising of four boundaries and five gigantic sixes.
What Lies Ahead
Namibia are now placed third in the points table and will play against Ireland in their last match in the first round on coming Friday, whereas losing side Netherlands will face Sri Lanka on the same day.
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