Following his side's seven-run loss to UAE in their ICC T20 World Cup, Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus said that letting their opponents unleash some great shots in middle overs cost them the match.
All-rounder David Wiese's heroics with bat went in vain as top spells from Zahoor Khan and Basil Hameed left Namibia seven runs short of a win against UAE in their Group A round one match against ICC T20 World Cup in Geelong on Thursday
"I thought we did well with the ball to keep them under 150. I think it was much below par, but we let them get away with a few shots in the middle overs. These kinds of games happen, we need to react better to situations when the momentum swings away from us. (On David Wiese) He is a match-winner who plays all over the world, our dressing room gets to learn a lot from him," said Erasmus in a post-match presentation.
With this loss, Namibia have been eliminated from the tournament. Sri Lanka (4 points, two wins in three matches) and Netherlands (4 points, two wins in three matches) have qualified for the Super 12 phase of the tournament.
Batting first, UAE posted 148/3 in their 20 overs. Muhammad Waseem (50) top-scored for his side and had a fifty-run partnership with Rizwan, who scored an unbeaten 43. Bernard Scholtz, David Wiese and Ben Shikongo took a wicket each.
Chasing 149, UAE bowlers restricted Namibia to 69/7 after some solid spells from Zahoor Khan (2/20) and Basil Hameed (2/17). However, a fifty from all-rounder David Wiese (55 off 36 balls) and his 70-run stand with Ruben Trumpelmann (25*) swung the match in favour of Namibia.
But the last over Wiese's dismissal brought another wind of change in the match, and UAE clinched a narrow seven-run win.
Zahoor emerged as the pick of the bowlers for UAE, taking 2/20 in four overs. Hameed also took 2/17 in his three overs. Meiyappan and Waseem took a wicket each.
Brief Scores: UAE: 148/3 in 20 overs (Muhammad Waseem 50, Chundangapoyil Rizwan 43*, Bernard Scholtz 1/22) defeated Namibia: 141/8 in 20 overs (David Wiese 55, Ruben Trumpelmann 25*, Zahoor Khan 2/20).
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
