Namibia have secured their place at the T20 World Cup for the very first time after thrashing Oman in Dubai, joining the Netherlands in qualifying for next year’s mega event. All-rounder JJ Smit smashed 59 off 25 balls as Namibia beat Oman by 54 runs. Namibia posted 161/7 after electing to bat, with Smit hitting five sixes in a match-winning innings following a well-made 45 from Craig Williams.
Oman, who played in the 2016 T20 World Cup, started well in reply as Khawar Ali and Aqib Ilyas put on a 57-run stand for the second wicket after Jatinder Singh was dismissed for a first-ball duck. Left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz trapped Ilyas (18) in front of the stumps and then stumped Ali (41) as Oman started struggling at 64 for 4 before folding at a quick pace.
“We got so many messages from people back home believing in us, and we did it finally,” said Smit. “I’m relieved. We’ve been on the wrong side of many of these tournaments.”
“We want more people playing cricket in Namibia and we want to spread the game and if they see us do well on the world stage then it gives them an incentive to play and think of a career,” said Erasmus.
Read here: Shakib Al Hasan Faces Ban For Not Reporting Corrupt Approach to ICC
Earlier, the Netherlands seal their berth to Australia after beating the United Arab Emirates by eight wickets. UAE, who started the tournament with win over Ireland, could only put up 80/9 in their 20 overs which the Dutch reached with 29 balls remaining.
UAE won the toss and chose to bat at first, but were quickly in trouble as Rohan Mustafa fell to Fred Klaassen in the first over itself. Things turned worse as UAE lost their first five wickets within nine runs. Ahmed Raza top-scored with 22 off 24 balls, but a target of 81 was never too tough to the Dutch.
“The way the seamers bowled was fantastic,” said Dutch captain Pieter Seelaar. “We have still not played at 100 per cent, bowling a team out for 80 and chasing it down with just two wickets is obviously close to 100 per cent. But we can still do better and the semi-final against Ireland is a good chance to do that.”
