“I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it does not even matter” – the lyrics of In the End song by Linkin Park suit David Wiese’s lone effort against United Arab Emirates (UAE) at Simonds Stadium, Geelong. Wiese rescued Namibia’s run chase from 69/7 but his wicket in the final over meant that Namibia lose the game by seven runs against United Arab Emirates (UAE). It also ended Namibia’s run in the T20 World Cup 2022 as they could not advance to the Super 12 stage.
Horrific start to run chase
Namibia's run chase got off to a horrific start. Opener Stephan Baard (4) got dismissed by Junaid Siddique. His opening partner Michael van Lingen (10) followed him back to the dressing room in the next over as Basil Hameed got his first wicket in the powerplay overs.
Not many boundaries were scored in the powerplay overs. Hameed struck again to dismiss Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton (1) in the fifth over. After six overs, Namibia had 34/3 on the board. Namibia lost half their side in the eighth over. Karthik Meiyappan got through skipper Gerhard Erasmus' (18) defenses. It was followed by a dramatic run out of JJ Smit (3).
All of a sudden, Namibia found themselves 46/5 with more than 12 overs left in the run chase. Wiese and Jan Frylinck tried to rebuild the innings but the latter got bowled by Zahoor Khan in the 13th over. Zahoor followed it up with the wicket of Zane Green to reduce Namibia to 69/7.
Wiese breaks free
Wiese carried the run chase on his back with Ruben Trumpelmann knocking the ball around for singles. In the 16th over, Wiese and Trumpelmann stepped on the pedal and hit Meiyappan for 18 runs. Wiese continued to hit big shots and got to his half-century from 31 balls in the 18th over.
Heartbreaking loss
In the last two overs, Namibia needed 20 runs to win. Zahoor bowled a brilliant penultimate over conceding just six runs. Muhammad Waseem had 14 runs to defend in the last over. After just four runs from first three balls, Wiese went for the big heave but found the long-on fielder. With Wiese's wicket all hope was lost for Namibia. 10 runs off two balls was too tough an ask for Namibia as they lost the game by seven runs. Wiese scored a brilliant 55-run knock off 36 deliveries including three fours and as many sixes.
Too slow a start
Earlier, Rizwan won the toss and opted to bat first. Vriitya Aravind played too many dot balls as UAE got off to a slow start in the powerplay overs putting up just 30 runs on the board. Aravind's Test match-like inning came to an end in the ninth over as Bernard Scholtz got his wicket. The wicketkeeper-batter scored just 21 runs from 32 deliveries. Skipper Rizwan tried to up the tempo and opener Muhammad Waseem joined him.
Electric finish
In the 15th over, Waseem got to his half-century from 40 deliveries but lost his wicket to Ben Shikongo off the next ball he faced. Waseem's 41-ball 50 included just one four and three sixes. At the start of slog overs, Alishan Sharafu got out to Wiese for a single-digit score. Basil Hameed and Rizwan's hitting in the slog overs helped UAE post a fighting total of 148/3 on the board. In the last over, JJ Smit conceded 21 runs including two sixes and one four.
India vs Netherlands on October 27
Their loss meant that Sri Lanka finish on the top of Group A and Netherlands advance to the Super 12 stage. Netherlands’ first game will be against Rohit Sharma-led India on October 27.
