Namibia kicked off the Roud 1 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 brilliantly, stunning Sri Lanka with a 55-run victory. However, they couldn’t carry the momentum forward in their next two face-offs. They lost to the Netherlands by 5 wickets in a close finish and on Thursday, their 7-run defeat at the hands of the UAE led to their exit from the ongoing showpiece event in Australia.
The defeat was indeed painful and it was evident on star bowler David Wiese’s face who couldn’t hold his tears. He played a blistering knock of 55 off just 36 deliveries in the chase of 141. But, his brilliance went in vain as Namibia were restricted to 141/8. After the match, the 37-year-old broke down in tears as he failed to take his team past the winning line.
Believe me, passion for sports is worth more than winning or losing@David_Wiese love ❤️ 😍 #ZongStandsByPakistan pic.twitter.com/kC7W40bHLv— Shilmani (@Basital75025083) October 20, 2022
The official Twitter page of the International Cricket Council (ICC) also praised Wiese for his spectacular knock.
“A truly heroic knock from David Wiese to take his team close, but Namibia’s T20 World Cup came to a premature end in Geelong on Thursday,” read the caption.
A truly heroic knock from David Wiese to take his team close, but Namibia's #T20WorldCup came to a premature end in Geelong on Thursday 🙁Check the updated Super 12 standings ahead of the final day from the First Round 👉 https://t.co/CNWOd5cVHG pic.twitter.com/sCiwMWiS5t
— ICC (@ICC) October 20, 2022
Batting first, UAE had posted a formidable total of 148 runs on the board. Wiese, Bernard Scholtz and Ben Shikongo picked up one wicket each in the contest. Namibia, during the run chase, suffered early jolts after losing their opening batters in the first three overs. Wiese displayed fabulous batting to bring his side back into the game. He slammed three boundaries and as many sixes during his sublime knock. Wiese also stitched a vital partnership of 70 along with Ruben Trumpelmann. However, their brilliance with the bat proved to be inconsequential as Namibia could only manage to reach 141, and crashed out of the tournament.
Namibia ended their T20 World Cup campaign with just two points from three matches. Their solitary win of the tournament took place in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka. The Gerhard Erasmus-led side had caused a major upset in the match after outplaying the Asia Cup winners by 56 runs. Wiese scalped two wickets against the Lankans to secure a much-needed winning start to the T20 World Cup campaign for his side. However, in their next match, Namibia endured a five-wicket defeat against the Netherlands.
Sri Lanka and Netherlands are the two teams to qualify for the Super 12 stage from Group 1.
The Super 12 stage is slated to kick off on Saturday. Hosts Australia will be up against New Zealand in the opening encounter of the Super 12 stage. India, under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, will start their T20 World Cup journey with a match against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday.
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