GEELONG, Oct 20:
Muhammad Waseem came up with an all-round show as UAE scripted their first ever T20 World Cup win, defeating Namibia by seven runs in the concluding group A match here on Thursday.
Courtesy UAE’s win, the Netherlands qualified for the Super 12 from Group A, along with Sri Lanka, while Namibia, who were in the reckoning before the match, got also eliminated.
UAE were already eliminated after Sri Lanka beat the Netherlands by 16 runs earlier in the day.
Chasing 149 for a win on a two-paced pitch, Namibia lost half their side inside 10 overs and it was then left to the seasoned David Wiese to steer their ship with 55 from 36 balls. He hit three fours and as many sixes.
But, the effort proved insufficient as Waseem (1/16 from two overs) came out on top with a perfect final over and dismissed Wiese to seal a memorable victory.
Wiese had a superb 70-run eighth wicket partnership with Ruben Turmpelmann who played the perfect foil with occasional boundaries and clever rotation of the strike in his 25 not out of 24 balls.
Namibia needed 20 runs from the last two overs, but Zahoor Khan came up with a perfect penultimate over and conceded just six runs, cleverly mixing up his deliveries and bowling with cross-seam. (PTI)
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