Abu Dhabi: Rubel Trumpelmann’s triple strikes in the opening over followed by an unbeaten 32 from JJ Smit led the way for Namibia to defeat Scotland by four wickets in a Group 2 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Wednesday.
The win also marks Namibia’s first-ever win in Super 12 stage of the mega event, going ahead of India and New Zealand while Scotland remain at the bottom of the points table for Group 2. It was a commendable effort from Scotland to take the game to the final over despite not having many runs to defend.
Chasing 110, Namibia had a slow start with 26 runs coming in the first five overs. In the final over of power-play, they lost Michael van Lingen, who top-edged a pull to cover off Safyaan Sharif. Four overs later, Namibia lost their second wicket as Zane Green holed out to longoff off Chris Greaves.
Two overs later, Michael Leask triggered a classic off-spinner dismissal while going through Gerhard Erasmus’ stumps. In the very next over, Craig Williams was stumped by Mark Watt while coming down the pitch for a flick.
JJ Smit and David Wiese put on a stand of 35 runs off 31 balls to take Namibia closer to the target, keeping the pressure from Scotland’s spinners at bay. But Leask took out Wiese with an outside edge flying to short third man in the 18th over to keep Scotland in the hunt. It didn’t deter Smit as he drove for a boundary off Wheal in the penultimate over before finishing off the match in style, smashing a six over point to seal a tight win for Namibia with five balls remaining.
Earlier, Namibia had a fantastic start as George Munsey chopped on his stumps off Trumpelmann on the first ball of the innings. Trumpelmann then made back-to-back strikes on the fourth and fifth ball of the innings. While Calum MacLeod nicked one behind, stand-in captain Richie Berrington was trapped lbw to a full in-swinger. Scotland’s misery continued as David Wiese struck in the final over of power-play, trapping Craig Wallace lbw.
Michael Leask (44 of 27 balls) led the recovery route, setting a 39-run stand off 34 balls with Matthew Cross (19). But Jan Frylinck got one to sneak past Cross’s bat to hit off-stump. Leask then joined forces with Chris Greaves (25) in taking Scotland past the 100-run mark. Though Greaves fell on the final over of the innings, he did the job for his side in getting to three-figures, which wasn’t enough to stop Namibia’s winning streak in the tournament.
Brief scores; Scotland: 109/8 in 20 overs (Michael Leask 44, Chris Greaves 25, Ruben Trumpelmann 3/17, Jan Frylinck 2/10) lost to Namibia: 115/6 in 19.1 overs (JJ Smit 32 not out, Craig Williams 23, Michael Leask 2/12, Bradley Wheal 1/14) by four wickets.
(IANS)