Oman’s spirited bowling effort saw them drag the game against Namibia in Barbados to the Super Over, but that’s as far as they could get. David Wiese, who picked three wickets and then ensured Oman didn’t defend their low total, starred in the Super Over alongside his captain Gerhard Erasmus. Namibia scored 20 and defended it to start their T20 World Cup campaign with a dramatic victory.
What happened in the Super Over:
Wiese’s 9 off 8 balls took the teams to a Super Over, where he walked out to bat with Erasmus. Oman preferred to rely on their strike bowler Bilal Khan than going with Mehran who brought them to this situation in the first place. Bilal started with a wide yorker that Wiese cut behind point for four. He then tonked a full-toss for a six over long-on before Erasmus wrapped up the 21-run over with two successive fours. Wiese wasn’t done for the day yet as he came back to defend those runs successfully, even dismissing Naseem Khushi. His mix of yorkers and change of pace blunted Oman, as they could only score 10 runs.
Oman
PowerPlay: Trumpelmann rocks Oman early
Phase score: 36/3 [RR: 6.00, 4s/6s: 5/0]
Left-arm quick Ruben Trumpelmann bowled two full, swinging deliveries and got two wickets for them as he trapped opener Kashyap Prajapati and captain Aqib Ilyas leg before on the first two balls of the match. In his next over, he had the other opener – Naseem Khushi mistiming a big hit to Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus at mid-off. No.4 batter Zeeshan Maqsood pushed hit four fours to push Oman ahead in the remainder of the PowerPlay
Middle-overs: Oman struggle to push ahead
Phase score: 42/2 [RR: 4.67, 4s/6s: 1/1]
Oman’s hopes of continuing to recover from the early setback was wrecked early by left-arm spinner Bernard Sholtz. He trapped Maqsood leg before in the seventh over, sending the batter back with a review. Khalid Kail and Ayaan Khan then attempted recovery, which lasted until the 12th over before Erasmus saw the back of the latter. Oman got their first six of the innings in this phase but it was only one of two boundaries they hit in the middle-overs.
Death-overs: Oman end with a sub-par total
Phase score: 31/5 [RR: 6.64, 4s/6s: 3/1]
Oman struggled moving forward and were once again dented by the Namibia captain, who trapped Mohammad Nadeem from round the stumps. The umpire thought for a bit and then raised his finger, sending Nadeem on his way as Oman didn’t have reviews left. Even if they did, it would’ve been burned in this dismissal as Nadeem was struck plumb in front. Khalid Kail’s attempts to step up at the death was cut short quickly by David Wiese. Kail hit a big six off a slower one but was out next ball, caught and bowled by Wiese. The fast bowler then trapped Mehran Khan two balls later to leave Oman in tatters. There was no respite in sight as Trumpelmann returned to pick his fourth wicket and finish with career-best figures of 4 for 21. Oman’s innings ended on 109 in the final over when Wiese picked his third wicket.
Namibia
PowerPlay: Measured start to chase
Phase score: 32/1 [RR: 5.34, 4s/6s: 5/0]
Namibia lost Michael van Lingen on the second ball of the chase when he played a ball from Bilal Khan onto his stumps. Second-wicket pair of Nikolaas Davin and Jan Frylinck made a solid, measured start to shield their side from a collapse like the one Oman had. The slow surface had something for the spinners as left-arm spinner Shakeel Ahmed got the ball to turn and bounce.
Middle-overs: Oman stay alive with tight bowling
Phase score: 46/2 [RR: 5.11, 4s/6s: 3/1]
Davin looked for a shift in gears and hit offspinner Aqib Ilyas for a six over long on. Ilyas dismissed him off the next ball, which he tossed up and lured Davin into mistiming another big hit. Ilyas also saw merit in using more of his slower bowlers and brought in left-arm spinner Zeeshan Maqsood. Jan Frylinck and Erasmus combined to make slow progress in chase before Ayaan Khan, another left-arm spinner, broke the stand in the 15th over. Erasmus decided to take a risk as his team was meandering away even in chase of just 110 runs. It didn’t pay off as he found the fielder at wide long-on. Namibia’s fate rested in the hands of Frylinck.
Death-overs: Mehran Khan earns Oman a Super Over!
Phase score: 31/3 [RR: 6.2, 4s/6s: 3/1]
Namibia went into the death overs needing 32 off 30 balls, but that equation soon became 14 off 12. Frylinck led the way but as has been the case all innings, Oman kept hitting back. Medium-pacer Mehran Khan dismissed JJ Smit in the 18th over, to keep the pressure on the batting side. David Wiese arrived and switched it back onto Oman by carting a big six off Bilal Khan in the penultimate over. Bilal still managed to nail his yorkers for the rest of the over and left five runs for Mehran to defend in the final over. That began with the dismissal of Frylinck, who was out leg before trying to shuffle across and get runs through fine leg. Two balls later, Mehran dismissed Zane Green. When Wiese took strike again, Namibia needed 4 off 2. That then became 2 off 1 when Mehran beat Wiese’s bat. However, the keeper who was standing up to the stumps didn’t collect the ball and the two batters stole a single to take the game into the Super Over.
Brief Scores: Oman 109 in 19.4 overs (Khalid Kail 34; Ruben Trumpelmann 4-21, David Wiese 3-28) tied with Namibia 109/6 in 20 overs (Jan Frylinck 45; Mehran Khan 3-7) Namibia won the Super Over.
What next?
Oman have a two-day break before facing Australia in Barbados. A day later on June 6, Namibia play Scotland at the same venue.
