Namibia created history on Tuesday (29th October) night as they have secured their place for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020, which will be their maiden T20 World Cup experience.
The African team Namibia have achieved this historic feat after reaching the semi-final of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019. On Tuesday, they beat Oman in the Qualifier 2 of this tournament.
After winning the toss, Namibia decided to bat first. They were once struggling on 69/5 in 12.1 overs. Then Craig Williams and JJ Smit handled that critical situation brilliantly and guided the team to the fighting total. They put the 83 runs partnership for the sixth wicket which hugely helped Namibia to cross the 150 runs mark.
Smit played a firing knock of 59 runs off just 25 balls (3 fours and 5 sixes). Meanwhile, Williams scored 45 runs off 41 balls (2 fours and 3 sixes). Namibia finally scored 161/7 in 20 overs.
Oman left-arm pacer Bilal Khan scalped four wickets as he had the bowling figures of 4-1-19-4.
Namibia bundled out Oman for just 107 runs
In reply, Oman were bundled out for just 107 runs in 19.1 overs as Namibia won by 54 runs. Apart from the opener Khawar Ali, no.3-batsman Aqib Ilyas and no.5 batsman Aamir Kaleem, all other batsmen failed to reach the double-digit scores.
Namibian spinners Bernard Scholtz (3/14) and Gerhard Erasmus (3/19) both picked up three wickets.
With this victory, Namibia have secured their place for the first round of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020. It will be their first experience in T20 World Cup history. Earlier, Namibia featured in their only ICC Cricket World Cup in 2003 edition in South Africa.
In the second semi-final of this tournament, Namibia will face the Group A champions Papua New Guinea (PNG). They will meet in the second semi-final of this tournament on 1st November at Dubai (DSC).
Meanwhile, on 30th October, Oman will face Hong Kong at Dubai in the Qualifier play-off 4. It will be their last chance to qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020. So, the winners of the match will qualify for the next T20 World Cup/