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Namibian all-rounder David Wiese is set to make his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at 37 years of age. But before making his IPL debut, the former South African all-rounder has proved his mettle in the ongoing International League T20. Playing for Gulf Warriors, Wiese made home team Sharjah Warriors dance to his tune and caused a middle-order batting collapse with his second-best bowling figures in the format.
Wiese was introduced by skipper James Vince in the eighth over. Wiese got hit for a boundary by Marcus Stoinis but kept targetting the stumps. Evin Lewis played across the line and got trapped leg before wicket.
He was brought back into the attack in the 11th over where he picked three wickets to break the back of Warriors. He started off with Joe Denly who was hard done by lack of bounce and got bowled. His second prey of the over was Marcus Stoinis who played down the wrong line and got out lbw. Chris Woakes did not play down the wrong line but was surprised by the extra bounce. Woakes played it straight to point fielder Qais Ahmed's throat. All of a sudden Warriors found themselves 67/7 after 11th over.
In his third over, Wiese was hit a boundary each b Afghan duo Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad. He was taken off the attack only to be brought back in the 17th over. He had the last laugh against Nabi who went for a slog and got out lbw. Warriors got all out in the next over and managed to post a below par total of 107.
Giants lost three wickets but chased down the target with 21 balls to spare. Giants are at the top of the points table with seven wins from 10 games.
“Just one of those things, it just works out for you on that day. Just kept it simple and everything worked out. If you get too excited by the conditions, it may not work out. For me it is just about keeping it simple and it was my day today. Nice to take some momentum into the playoffs,” Wiese said in the post-match presentation.
Wiese was picked by KKR for his base price of Rs 1 crore in the auction after his performances for Namibia in T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. It will be interesting to see whether he makes into KKR’s playing XI straight away or not.
