Published 10:46 IST, October 30th 2019
Namibia beat Oman by 54 runs to qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup 2020
Namibia qualified for the 2020 ICC T-20 World Cup after they defeated Oman by 54 runs in their qualifier match on Tuesday. The African side won by 54 runs
- SportFit
- 2 min read
Namibia beat Oman by 54 runs to qualify for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2020. A sharp bowling attack by Johannes Smit and Bernard Scholtz helped the African side to nullify any threat as Oman tried to chase down the target. Smith said that he was relieved to qualify for the tournament.
Middle-order help
Choosing to bat first after winning the toss, Namibia raked up a target of 161 runs whilst losing seven wickets. Although Oman got off to a good start after picking wickets of Stephen Baard, Jean-Pierre Kotze, Nikolaas Davin and Gerhard Erasmus at regular intervals, Craig Williams score of 45 runs and Smith's score of 59 runs helped stabilize the ship and build a significant target. Oman's Bilal Khan scalped four wickets to keep the pressure on Johan Rudolph's side.
In the second innings, Smith continued his fine overall performance and went on to pick two wickets in order to restrict the attack. Khawar Ali, Oman's opener scored 41 runs in order to give his side a solid start, but he received no help from the rest of the team as the wickets fell regularly. Oman was all-out for 107 runs in 19.1 overs. Scholtz has been very effective and important for the African side in the qualifiers since in 27 overs, he has picked 14 wickets and has the joint-best figures of 4/12 with an economy rate of 4.96 only.
Smith received the Man of the Match award for his performance and he said, "We got so many messages from people back home believing in us, and we did it finally. I'm relieved. We've been on the wrong side of many of these tournaments."
It is not over for Oman, who can still qualify if they defeat Hong Kong later.
The Netherlands also qualified for the T-20 World Cup after defeating UAE by eight wickets in the other qualifier
Updated 11:54 IST, October 30th 2019