Twitter Reactions: Dashing David Wiese keeps Namibia's qualification hopes alive

Wiese smacked an unbeaten 66 off 40 to help Namibia register a historic victory.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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Namibia cricket Team
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Namibia cricket Team. (Photo by Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)Twi

A belligerent knock in the face of adversity by David Wiese knocked Netherlands out of the T20 World Cup. Wiese smashed five sixes and four boundaries in his unbeaten 66 off 40 to take Namibia past the 166-run target with six wickets and an over to spare.

The chase, however, was not as simple. Namibia were 52/3 in the 9th over with the required rate creeping, which is when Wiese took things into his own hands alongside skipper Gerhard Erasmus to record a historic victory to keep the hopes of a Namibian qualification alive.

Out in pursuit of 166, Namibia made a steady start before Netherlands bowlers pulled things back. The 34-run opening stand was broken when Zane Green inside-edged Fred Klassen onto his stumps inside the powerplay. No. 3 Craig Williams laboured himself to 11 off 13 before being castled by Colin Ackermann. In the immediately following over Stephen Baard was cleaned up by Pieter Seelaar with the clouds of trouble enveloping his team.

Dashing David

Wiese entered with Namibia still needing 113 off 66. He did not tee off immediately, taking five balls to get off the mark but ensured once he was in, he made the game obey his commands. Wiese smothered Roelof van der Merwe over long-off to pick the first of his five sixes and ignited the hopes of a turnaround in the 19-run 12th over when he belted a couple of sixes and a four off Ackermann.

From his end, Erasmus ensured that his team was not losing any more wickets, playing the perfect foil to an on-song Wiese. He accelerated himself with a couple of successive boundaries in the 14th over before Wiese notched up his half-century off just 29 balls. The match-turning 93-run stand was broken in the 17th over when Erasmus edged Timm van der Guten behind to walk back for 32.

A 4-run 18th over did increase the heartbeats in Namibia camp for a brief while, with 15 off 12 still needed. However, a horror over from Logan van Beek that had three wide deliveries meant there was not much fuss for Namibia, who sealed the game with JJ Smit (14 off 8) smacking successive fours.

Frylinck, Wiese dent the Netherlands 

Earlier after being put in, Netherlands made a positive start, with openers Stephan Myburgh and Max O’Dowd adding 42 at a decent pace. The former was happy to take the backseat, with Dowd taking on the left-arm pace of Ruben Trumpelmann in the powerplay, pulling him for a six before a boundary to get into his elements.

Myburgh was reprieved early when David Weise could not hold onto a rather difficult chance but he failed to make Namibia pay for it, finding the man stationed at point off Jan Frylinck only a couple of overs later for 17. Wiese then removed van der Merwe to peg Netherlands back after a sturdy start.

Max O’Dowd delivers max

While the runs dried up in the passage that followed – Netherlands did not manage even a single boundary in overs 8-11 – Dowd partnered alongside Ackermann to bail his team out of trouble. Having gotten his eyes well in by then, he ensured to hold his end up, while also being assisted by the lax fielding efforts of the opposition, who gave him a couple of lives, missing run-out opportunities and catches over his innings.

The Dowd-Ackermann alliance yielded 82 for the third wicket but the heavy-lifting was done by Dowd, who struck six fours and a six in his 70 off 56. Ackermann failed to gather runs with the same fluency, scoring 35 off 32, with just a solitary six and four before holing out in the deep towards the fag end of the innings. A tired Dowd failed to make his ground to be dismissed run-out in the final over but Scott Edwards’ 11-ball 21 cameo meant Netherlands pushed themselves past 160.

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