T20 World Cup 2022, R1, Gr A, UAE v NAM: UAE end Namibia's journey; Netherlands qualify for Super 12

ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022, Round 1, Group A, UAE v Namibia: Basil Hameed's 25 & 2-13, David Wiese's 55 & 1-27 and Zahoor Khan's 2-20 are top performances. UAE beat Namibia in final game of Group A. Netherlands qualify for Super 12.

Hameed & Rizwan added 35 off 18 balls in death overs for Namibia (Photo: ©ICC via Getty)

Brief Scores: UAE 148/3 (Waseem 50, CP Rizwan 43*, Shikongo 1/8, Wiese 1/27) beat NAM 141/8 (Wiese 55, Trumpelmann 25*, Hameed 2/17, Zahoor 2/20) by 7 runs

Player of the Match: Muhammad Waseem (50 runs in 41 balls & 1/16)

Namibia began the first round of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 with a famous victory over Asia Cup 2022 champions Sri Lanka before slipping against Netherlands. The African side on Thursday locked horns with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who were yet to win a game in this world event. The sixth Group A game of the first round of the World Cup was held at the Simonds Stadium in Geelong.

With Sri Lanka having already qualified for the Super 12 stage, Namibia needed to win the second game on Thursday to get through while a UAE win would see the Netherlands in the Super 12.

UAE kept their nerves to achieve famous win

Coming into this game on the back of two defeats, UAE were under pressure and even before this game started, they were second favourites against Namibia, who had earlier beaten Sri Lanka.

But UAE showed good fight with the bat as they managed to take themselves close to 150 to offer something to their bowlers, who were excellent against the opponent batters bowling in the right channels varying their pace. In the end, when David Wiese assumed the beast mode, they held their nerves to register their maiden T20 World Cup victory.

UAE record maiden T20 World Cup victory; Netherlands qualify for Super 12

The United Arab Emirates captain Chundangapoyil Rizwan on winning the toss decided to bat first. While Namibia added left-arm pacer Ruben Trumpelmann in place of top-order batter Divan la Cock, UAE left out Aryan Lakra, Chirag Suri and Kashif Daud to bring in Alishan Sharafu, Ahmed Raza and debutant Fahad Nawaz.

Opting to bat first, UAE batters didn’t lose any wicket in the powerplay moving to a tardy 30/0. With a few big shots and a fighting half-century from Muhammad Waseem took them to 97/2 in 15 overs. But the last unbeaten partnership of 35 runs in 18 balls between captain CP Rizwan and Basil Hameed propelled them to challenging total of 148/3 in their allotted overs.

Chasing 149, Namibia looked nervous as they hit some poor shots and their running between the wickets too was questionable. They slipped to 43/3 in the powerplay, before being reduced to 70/7 in 13 overs. Their rescue man David Wiese tried his best with his 36-ball 55 run knock but UAE kept their nerves to clinch the narrowest of victories by seven runs. As a result, Netherlands who won two games and ended at the second position in the points table, are through to the Super 12 stage.

Let’s scan the top three performances from the game between Namibia and United Arab Emirates in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

Basil Hameed's 25 off 13 & 2-17 help UAE beat Namibia (Photo: ©ICC via Getty)

Basil Hameed displays all-round performance with 25*(14) and 2/17

When Basil Hameed walked into the middle, UAE were on 113/3 in 17 overs as they were looking for a wild finish. Hameed wisely outstretched his right hand to guide the ball besides the wicketkeeper for a welcome boundary; he finished the 19th over with a much needed six that was pulled high and handsomely over the deep mid-wicket region.

The third ball of the last over was clubbed for a massive maximum by Basil Hameed over deep square leg before he tried the reverse lap for boundary to carry UAE to 148/3 in 20 overs. He was well supported by captain CP Rizwan (43* in 29 balls) who shared a fantastic 35* run partnership in 18 balls with Hameed in the end.

Basil Hameed was thrown the ball from the very first over and with the last ball in his second over, he sent back Michael van Lingen (10) who smacked a short ball straight to the man stationed at deep square leg. In his next over, he trapped Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton (1) before the stumps with a leg-sided delivery; the appeal was overturned initially but Hameed got his due thanks to a review.

Basil Hameed who ended on 25* in 14 balls with two boundaries and as many as sixes at a strike rate of 178.57 has 285 T20I runs in 24 games. He ended the game with figures of 2/17 in three overs and now has 15 T20I wickets in 24 games.

Read More: T20 World Cup 2022, R1, Gr A, SL v NED: Mendis 79, Hasaranga 3-28 take Sri Lanka through to Super 12

Zahoor Khan took 2-20 as UAE beat Namibia (Photo: ©Peter Della Penna)

Smart Zahoor Khan held his nerves with incisive figures of 2/20

Zahoor Khan has been in excellent touch in this round of the T20 World Cup with 3/37 in his eight overs in the last couple of games, and he was required to deliver again for the UAE with vital wickets.

After bowling a decent over, Zahoor Khan coming into his second over, picked up the key wicket of Jan Frylinck on 14 with a beautiful yorker off which the latter was late to put his bat down as the off stump went for a toss.

Two balls later almost in the same fashion, Zahoor bagged the wicket of Zane Green who got an inside edge as the ball hit the middle stump; at this point, the whole UAE dug-out cheered with joy and belief. He also bowled a great penultimate where he gave away just six runs, to finish with 2/20 in his four overs. He now has 46 T20I wickets in 37 games.

Read More: T20 World Cup 2022, R1, Gr A, SL v UAE: Chameera, Hasaranga 3-fers, Nissanka 74 help SL open account

David Wiese's 55 off 36 goes in vain as UAE beat Namibia Photo: ©AFP/Getty)

David Wiese wages lone fight with 55-run knock

With the ball in hand, David Wiese got a solitary wicket as he sent back Alishan Sharafu on 4 who glided the short ball straight into the hands of wicketkeeper Zane Green who leapt to grab a good catch. But on a vital evening, Wiese was expected to carry Namibia on his lone shoulders.

When Wiese walked into the middle to bat, Namibia were under all sorts of trouble being at 46/5 in the eighth over. Wiese took some time to settle down, before launching the first big shot when he slogged the ball over deep mid-wicket for a huge six; he drove the ball hard to the left of extra cover for a boundary. He was getting some support from Ruben Trumpelmann too from the other end.

Wiese shuffled closer and effortlessly lifted the full ball over deep mid-wicket for another six before slapping one over the backward point region for the same result to celebrate his second T20I fifty in just 31 balls.

Finally, when he was dismissed, the hopes of Namibia too came to an end. Wiese who finished on 55 in just 36 balls with three boundaries and three maximums at a strike rate of 152.77, now has 453 runs in 39 T20Is.

Read More: T20 World Cup 2022, R1, Gr A, NED v NAM: De Leede's 2-18, 30* boosts Netherlands' Super 12 chances

ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 Group A Points Table

Group A Points Table

Point Table Scenario & What’s Next

With Sri Lanka topping Group A with best-in-class net run rate (NRR) of 0.667, they have now advanced to Group 1; while runners-up from Group A, Netherlands will join Group 2 in the Super 12 stage.

Sri Lanka will now face the runners-up of Group B on October 23 at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. The Netherlands will meet Bangladesh on October 24 at the same ground.

Read More: T20 World Cup 2022, R1, Group A, NED v UAE: Netherlands prevail in low-scoring game; win by 3 wkts

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