The Associate Nations have over the past two decades have punched above their weight, that inevitably forcing the International Cricket Council (ICC) to expand the Men’s Twenty20 Cricket World Cup to 20 teams.
And that’s how Uganda got a slot in, after shocking Zimbabwe during the Africa Qualifiers last November.
Africa has only three representatives; South Africa, Namibia and debutants at the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies.
The silent prayer for Uganda is that fellow Associate Namibia pushes high enough in the Americas, to ease the future qualification path for the Cricket Cranes.
So all-rounder David Wiese’s moment of brilliance in Namibia’s Super Over victory over Oman in Group B in Bridgetown, Barbados, not only worked for the Capricorn Eagles but probably, for the rest of Africa, in the early hours of yesterday.
Namibia, on their third successive T20 World Cup appearance, set themselves a target of 110 runs to win at the Kensington Oval after they bowled out the Omanis for 109 runs in 19.4 overs with only Khalid Kail (34 runs off 39 balls) and Zeeshan Maqsood (22 off 20) making significant contributions.
It was the bowling from pace men Ruben Trumpelmann (4/21) including two scalps on the opening two balls of the innings, and Wiese (3/28 in 3.4 overs) that had delivered clinical moments.
Jan Frylinck (45 off 48), Nikolaas Davin (24 off 31) and skipper Gerhard Erasmus (13 off 16) nearly had Namibia over the line but with 14 runs required off 15 balls, Wiese walked in, tying the innings at the end thanks to Mehran Khan’s last over of four runs conceded and two wickets snared.
Khan finished with 3-7 and a maiden but had Wiese won the match, Trumpelmann’s spell would have won him the player-of-match prize.
Instead, former South African player Wiese, 39, showed his experience in the Super Over when he scored 13 runs off the first four balls of the over by Bilal Khan before Erasmus knocked two boundaries to close it at 21-0.
Oman was up to Wiese again, this time with the ball. And he conceded two runs off the first ball from Naseem Khushi before dotting the next, bowling Khushi out on the third delivery and mathematically, Oman couldn’t get the required 20 runs to win on the remaining three balls.
That marked the only third Super Over contest in the history of the tournament. Another Associate Nation Papua New Guinea (PNG) nearly shocked hosts West Indies in the Group C opener in Georgetown, Guyana on Sunday evening.
PNG fought through Sesa Bau’s half-century of 50 runs off 43 balls to set 136-8 and a rain delay plus a loss of four wickets for 36 runs in the middle overs seemed to give PNG some control with ball.
But Roston Chase’s unbeaten innings of 42 runs off 27 balls and Andre Russell’s brief cameo of 15* runs off nine balls and PNG’s opening bowler Kabua Morea’s spell (0/30 in three overs) had proved costly.
The small margins could still have a say in Group B again when Jos Butler-led England meets Scotland in Bridgetown at while in Group D, Netherlands, with fiery Max O’Dowd, meets Nepal in Texas, USA later today. Nepal trusts impact player Dipendra Singh Airee.
Source link : https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/sports/cricket/wiese-ignites-namibia-png-come-close–4645710
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Publish date : 2024-06-03 12:19:19
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