Geelong (Victoria): The UAE survived a late scare from all-rounder David Wiese's 55 to secure a narrow seven-run win over Namibia in their last Group A match in first round of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup at Kardinia Park on Thursday.
The thrilling win was also UAE's first-ever win in in the T20 World Cup. After Muhammad Waseem slammed a 41-ball fifty, skipper C P Rizwan hit an unbeaten 43 off 29 deliveries to help UAE make a competitive 148/3. Namibia were down and out at 67/7 in 13 overs.
That was when Wiese stepped up to hit three fours and as many sixes in his 36-ball stay at the crease and shared a 70-run stand with Rubel Trumpelmann for the eighth wicket, a record partnership in T20 World Cup history, as dew started to settle in.
But Wasim took out Wiese in the final over and gave away just six runs to knock Namibia out of the competition and propel the Netherlands to the Super 12 stage from Group A alongside 2014 champions Sri Lanka.
From Group A, table-toppers Sri Lanka join England, Australia, New Zealand and Afghanistan in Group 1 while the second-ranked Netherlands enter Group 2 comprising India, Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh.
Chasing 149, Namibia lost their opening pair of Stephen Baard and Michael van Lingen in the first three overs. While Baard lobbed a leading edge to cover off Junaid Siddique, van Lingen picked out deep square leg fielder off Basil Hameed to perfection.
Namibia's troubles increased when Nicol Loftie-Eaton was trapped lbw while going for a switch hit off Hameed while captain Gerhard Erasmus (castled by Karthik Meiyappan) and J J Smit (run out at bowler's end) were out in quick succession in the eighth over.
With Zahoor Khan taking out Jan Frylinck and Zane Green in a span of four balls in the 13th over, it felt the match was all over for Namibia. But Wiese stitched a 70-run stand off 44 balls for the eighth wicket with Rubel Trumpelmann, smashing seven boundaries between themselves to give Namibia a real chance of winning the match.
With 14 needed off the final over, Wiese tried to clear long-on off a cross-seam ball from Muhammad Waseem, but the fielder leapt high to take the catch to perfection, leaving the all-rounder devastated as UAE signed off from T20 World Cup on a high.
