Eagles on fire in Super Over
Cricket
Namibia’s Eagles dramatically scraped past Oman in their opening ICC T20 World Cup 2024 match in Barbados on Sunday night to bag two valuable points in Group B.Namibia bowled Oman out for 109 in 19.4 overs at a rate of just 5.54 per over. The Eagles then only managed to tie Oman’s 109 after 20 overs, with six wickets down.
However, David Wiese and captain Gerhard Erasmus was sent in to bat first in the Super Over, accumulating a whopping 21 runs without losing a wicket.
Oman then only produced ten runs for the loss of one wicket in the Super Over, with Wiese on fire with immaculate bowling.
The heroics of Wiese with bat and ball gave him the Player of the Match award. He took a wicket in the Super Over and smashed 13 runs. He also took three wickets for 28 in 3.4 overs in Oman’s innings and scored 9 not out off 8 balls.
Erasmus added two fours in the Super Over to Namibia’s tally.
Off to a flyer
Ruben Trumpelmann registered his best international T20 bowling figures by taking four for 21 in four overs (5.25 per over).
After Oman were asked to bat, Trumpelmann got Namibia off to the perfect start when he swung in a full delivery to trap Kashyap Prajapati lbw on the first ball.
In what was almost an action replay, Trumpelmann then sent a searing inswinging yorker that hit Oman captain Aqib Ilyas flush on his foot for another lbw wicket.
Trumpelmann couldn't get a hat-trick or make it a three-wicket first over, like he had against Scotland in the 2021 T20 World Cup, but he struck again in his next over with a length ball which Naseem Khushi miscued to be caught by Erasmus at mid-off, and Oman were 10 for 3.
Erasmus with 2/20 in four, Bernard Scholtz (1/20 in 4) and Tangeni Lungameni (0/18 in 4) were also very economical in support of Wiese’s three wickets.
In the chase, Niko Davin (24 off 31 balls), Jan Frylinck (45 off 48) and Erasmus (13 off 16) were Namibia’s top scorers.
However, Mehran Khan (3/7 in 3) restricted the batsmen and struck decisive blows, while Zeeshan Maqsood (22 off 20 balls), Khalid Kail (34 off 39) and Ayaan Khan (15 off 21) top-scored for Oman.
Nerve-wracking
Erasmus said in his post-match interview: “It was tough to sum up (the conditions) and get momentum. We tried that with running between the wickets, but you felt you needed that odd boundary. Unfortunately we couldn't do that, and we need to take accountability for that before the next game (against Scotland on Thursday).
“It was a tough one on a tough wicket like that. We haven't had a Super Over in a competition game. Great to be part of. Winning a close game early breaks the duck and brings you into the tournament. (We) Experienced everything in this game.”
Wiese still has lots of fight
David Wiese may have only started playing for Namibia in 2021, but you could see how much it meant to him when he bowled Naseem Khushi off the third ball of the Super Over, which pretty much sealed the match.
All the emotions of a World Cup thriller came out when he let out a celebratory scream.
Namibia would not have underestimated Oman, having only narrowly edged them in a five-match T20I series in April, but still, they would take a target of 110 “every single day of the week”, in Wiese’s words.
After taking a three-for with the ball, Wiese walked out in the 18th over, with Namibia needing 14 off 15 deliveries in the chase. He faced three dots to start with, but in the next over, he hit Oman's most prolific T20I bowler, Bilal Khan, for a six, and Namibia were left with five to win off the last over.
As the television camera shifted to Wiese, you could see his trepidation at not being able to get on strike.
In the Super Over, though, the all-rounder would have no more frustrations.
“From there, I was just in the zone,” Wiese said. “I wanted to rectify my mistakes, I wanted to be the guy to put in the big performance. Luckily the team entrusted me with that role.”
“I knew that batting in the Super Over if I got one or two early boundaries, then I could put them under pressure and then we could try and take it out of their reach.”
Getting those boundaries was easier said than done, on a pitch where both teams struggled to play their shots. However, Wiese was timing it better than most on the day, and it wasn’t a surprise that he was on strike for the Super Over.
“I aged a couple of years tonight," Wiese said as he collected his Player-of-the-match award. "I don't have a lot of years left, so I need to take it easy. Just an emotionally draining game, I suppose."
At 39 years, this could be Wiese's last World Cup. But he showed on Sunday night that he still has plenty of fight left in the tank.
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