In the last match of the first round of the T20 World Cup on Thursday at Simonds Stadium in Geelong, UAE held Namibia to 141 for 8 while defending their own score of 148 for 3. Even though David Weise scored 55 out of 36, this was the case. UAE batted first, and batsmen like Muhammad Waseem (50 runs off 41 balls) and Chundangapoyil Rizwan helped them make a good score (43 runs off 29 balls). After the United Arab Emirates beat Namibia, both teams still had two points. Still, the Netherlands’ four points were enough to get them into the Super 12s, where they will play with Sri Lanka, who is the clear leader of their group.
Namibia Squad:
- Divan la Cock
- Michael van Lingen
- Jan Nicole Loftie-Eaton
- Stephen Baard
- Gerhard Erasmus (c)
- JJ Smit
- David Wiese
- Jan Frylick
- Zane Green
- Bernard Scholtz
- Ben Shikongo
UAE Squad:
- Waseem Muhammad
- Chirag Suri
- Aryan Lakra
- CP Rizwan (c)
- Vritya Aravind (wk)
- Basil Hameed
- Kashif Daud
- Aayan Khan
- Karthik Meiyappan
- Zahoor Khan
- Junaid Siddique
As they tried to reach 149, Namibia was dealt some early knocks. Namibia’s middle order also underperformed, and the team’s batting effort in the must-win game never got off the ground. Namibia was on the verge of losing 69-7.
Then, the best 8th wicket stands in T20 World Cup history, 70 runs, was posted by David Wiese and Ruben Trumpelmann to revive the Namibian innings and put their side back in a commanding position. Namibia tried its best, but ultimately it was not meant to be.
U.A.E. scores a historic victory T20 World Cup victory number one for them. Unfortunately for David Wiese, his team was not able to make it into the Super 12s despite their best efforts. That was the closest I could get, but it was still too distant. Unfortunately, Namibia must return home, as reported by the UK time.
