David Wiese Shines in Super Over, Leading Namibia to Thrilling Victory in T20 World Cup 2024
David Wiese’s all round brilliance propels Namibia to a thrilling victory in the super over against Oman in ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
After being bowled out for 109, Oman staged a thrilling rally with the ball to force a Super Over. However, a composed Namibia, captained by David Wiese, dominated the one-over eliminator to begin their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with a victory.
Oman 109 (Kail 34, Trumpelmann 4-21, Wiese 3-28) and Namibia 109 for 6 (Frylinck 45, Mehran 3-7) were tied.
Namibian Super Over 21 defeated Oman 10.
For the third time since 2012, a men’s T20 World Cup match ended in a Super Over. Against the seasoned Bilal Khan, Wiese and Gerhard Erasmus amassed 21 runs before Wiese made sure Oman was unable to mount a second comeback in the game.
Wiese opened the Super Over with a full delivery through the covers on a pitch that both teams’ hitters had trouble scoring on. He then hammered the next ball, a delicious full toss, for a six wide of long-on. Erasmus took Namibia to the highest score in a T20 World Cup Super Over by flick-sweeping the penultimate ball of the over through square leg to pick up another boundary and then squeezing a yorker beyond short third.
Then, after conceding just two runs from his opening two deliveries, Wiese got Naseem Khushi to edge one onto the stumps. Wiese completed the victory as Oman could only muster a single off the subsequent ball as the sum was too much for them to handle. In men’s T20Is, Wiese became only the fourth player to both bat and bowl in a Super Over.
With Jan Frylinck at the center of the attack, Namibia managed to narrow the deficit to 18 runs required in the final three overs. After throwing four byes to begin the eighteenth over, Mehran Khan had JJ Smit caught at long on and then bowled Wiese three consecutive dots.
Namibia needed only five runs to win when he entered the field to bowl the last over. However, Mehran chased Frylinck, who was backing away, and bowled one full, bowling him off his pads for a forty-eight-ball forty-five. Zane Green, the new batter, attempted a scoop but failed, resulting in an out at bat due to a dot ball.
With four needed off two, Wiese was put on strike by a single, but he could only get two with a straight shot onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Mehran bowled full for the entire over before switching to an outside off length ball that Wiese failed to catch. The wicketkeeper was standing when the ball bounced off him, giving Namibia a single, although Oman would have likely won if it had struck directly at the other end.
Also Read: Afghanistan Dominates Uganda in T20 World Cup Opener
Ruben Trumpelmann gave Namibia a fantastic start when he swung in a full delivery to trap Kashyap Prajapati leg before wicket on the opening ball after inviting Oman to bat. Aqib Ilyas, the captain of Oman, was struck by a scorching inswinging yorker from Trumpelmann that left his foot flushed, almost like a rerun of the action.
In his next over, Trumpelmann struck again with a length ball that bounced more than Naseem Khushi expected as he misplayed a catch to mid-off, and Oman were 10 for 3. Trumpelmann was unable to complete a hat-trick or make it a three-wicket first over, as he had done against Scotland in the 2021 T20 World Cup. After that, Zeeshan Maqsood attempted a flurry of boundaries to try and get Oman back on track, but his counterattack was thwarted when left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz trapped him leg before wicket in the seventh over.
Following the powerplay, Oman could only muster five runs from the two overs bowled by the spinners Scholtz and Erasmus combined. Then, at the midway point of the innings, Ayaan Khan hit Scholtz for Oman’s first six. This took Oman to 60 for 4.
But Namibia took two more wickets in the process, bowling 44 deliveries without giving up a boundary and only enabling Oman to score 29 runs during that time. After catching Ayaan at long off off Erasmus, the captain of Namibia trapped Mohammad Nadeem in front on his subsequent over.Oman attempted a late onslaught, but Wiese and Trumpelmann contributed to the innings’ conclusion; the former took two wickets in an over while finishing with a three-for.
When Michael van Lingen got an inside edge onto the stumps in the opening over, Bilal was able to provide his squad with a breakthrough as well. Namibia scored at a rate of less than six runs per over during the remainder of the powerplay, but they were unharmed.
Ilyas bowled a maiden over as they struggled against spin. As a result of the pressure, Nikolaas Davin, who was bowled out by Mehran in the eighth over, was able to hit Ilyas for a six over long-on but failed to make a catch to long-off in his attempt to score another big hit.
As Frylinck and Erasmus attempted to stabilize Namibia, the boundaries dried up once more. Oman had several opportunities to end the partnership, but Ilyas handed Frylinck a life in the 11th over when he was on 21, so another caught-and-bowled opportunity ended in defeat.
Frylinck got another reprieve two overs later on 24, when he was dropped at deep midwicket. Oman will be left regretting the chances they missed after coming so close, as Frylinck eventually grounds Namibia in the final over.