Abu Dhabi, (Asian independent) JJ Smit (32 not out off 23 balls) led the way for Namibia to defeat Scotland by four wickets in a Group 2 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Wednesday. The win also marks Namibia’s first-ever win in the Super 12 stage of the mega event.
Chasing 110, Namibia had a slow start with 26 runs coming in the first five overs. In the final over of power-play, they lost Michael van Lingen, who top-edged a pull to cover off Safyaan Sharif. Four overs later, Namibia lost their second wicket as Zane Green holed out to longoff off Chris Greaves.
Two overs later, Michael Leask triggered a classic off-spinner dismissal while going through Gerhard Erasmus’ stumps. In the very next over, Craig Williams was stumped by Mark Watt while coming down the pitch for a flick.
JJ Smit and David Wiese put on a stand of 35 runs off 31 balls to take Namibia closer to the target. But Leask took out Wiese with an outside edge flying to short third man in the 18th over to keep Scotland in the hunt. It didn’t deter Smit as he drove for a boundary off Wheal in the penultimate over before finishing off the match in style, smashing a six over point to seal a tight win for Namibia with five balls remaining.
Brief scores; Scotland: 109/8 in 20 overs (Michael Leask 44, Chris Greaves 25, Ruben Trumpelmann 3/17, Jan Frylinck 2/10) lost to Namibia: 115/6 in 19.1 overs (JJ Smit 32 not out, Craig Williams 23, Michael Leask 2/12, Bradley Wheal 1/14) by four wickets.
