Superhero Wiese aces Super Over for Namibia in thriller

Super Over Namibia 21 beat Oman 10Oman mounted a dramatic comeback with the ball after being bundled out for 109 to take the match to a Super Over, but a composed Namibia, led by David Wiese, dominated the one-over eliminator to start their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with a win.This was the third time a men’s T20 World Cup game went to the Super Over and the first since 2012. Wiese and Gerhard Erasmus racked up 21 runs against the seasoned Bilal Khan, before Wiese ensured Oman couldn’t pull off a second comeback in the match.

David Wiese bosses the Super Over

On a pitch where batters from both teams struggled to score, Wiese started the Super Over by drilling a full delivery through the covers and then walloping the next ball – a juicy full toss – for a six wide of long-on. Erasmus flick-swept the penultimate ball of the over through square leg to pick up another boundary before squeezing a yorker past short third to take Namibia to the highest score in a T20 World Cup Super Over.Wiese then gave away just two runs off his first two balls before getting Naseem Khushi to edge one onto the stumps.Oman managed just a single off the next ball as the total went beyond their reach and Wiese closed out the win. Wiese became just the fourth player in men’s T20Is to bat and bowl in a Super Over.

Mehran Khan almost bowls Oman to victory

Namibia’s modest chase was built around Jan Frylinck to take the equation to 18 runs needed off the last three overs. Mehran Khan started the 18th over with four byes, but then had JJ Smit caught at long-on before bowling three dots on the trot to Wiese.Mehran Khan bowled tight lines and lengths•Getty Images

When he came on to bowl the last over, Namibia needed just five to win. But Mehran bowled one full as he followed Frylinck, who was backing away, and bowled him off his pads for a 48-ball 45. Another dot ball later, new batter Zane Green missed an attempted scoop and was out lbw.A single brought Wiese on strike with four needed off two, but he could only hit his straight drive onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end for two. Having bowled full for the whole over, Mehran switched to a length ball outside off that Wiese missed. The ball ricocheted off the wicketkeeper standing up to allow Namibia a single although a direct hit at the same end would have probably handed Oman victory.

Trumpelmann sets it up early

After asking Oman to bat, Ruben Trumpelmann got Namibia off to the perfect start when he swung in a full delivery to trap Kashyap Prajapati lbw on the first ball. In what was almost an action replay, Trumpelmann the sent a searing inswinging yorker that hit Oman captain Aqib Ilyas flush on his foot.Trumpelmann couldn’t get a hat-trick or make it a three-wicket first over, like he had against Scotland in the 2021 T20 World Cup, but he struck again in his next over with a length ball that bounced more than Naseem Khushi expected as he miscued a catch to mid-off, and Oman were 10 for 3.Ruben Trumpelmann took three wickets in his first two overs•Getty Images

Zeeshan Maqsood then tried to get Oman back on track with a flurry of boundaries but his counterattack came to an end when left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz trapped him lbw in the seventh over.

Namibia dry out the boundaries

With the spinners Scholtz and Erasmus bowling in tandem, Oman managed just five runs from the two overs after the powerplay. Ayaan Khan then attacked Scholtz for Oman’s first six of the innings to reach 60 for 4 at the halfway mark.But Namibia bowled 44 deliveries without conceding a boundary, allowing Oman just 29 runs in this period, which resulted in two more wickets. Ayaan was caught at long-off off Erasmus and the Namibia skipper trapped Mohammad Nadeem in front in his next over.Oman tried to attack late, but Wiese and Trumpelmann helped close the innings out, with the former bowling a two-wicket over en route to a three-for.

Bilal Khan sets the tone, Ilyas applies the squeeze

Bilal got early movement as well and was able to give his team a breakthrough when Michael van Lingen got an inside edge onto the stumps in the first over. Namibia went through the rest of the powerplay unscathed, but were scoring at under six an over.They struggled against spin, with Ilyas bowling a maiden over. The pressure led to Nikolaas Davin – dropped by Mehran off his own bowling in the eighth over – hitting Ilyas for a six over long-on but then skying a catch to long-off while trying to go for another big hit.The boundaries dried up again as Frylinck and Erasmus tried to steady Namibia, although Oman had multiple chances to break the partnership, only for another caught-and-bowled chance to go down when Ilyas gave Frylinck a life in the 11th over when he was on 21.Two overs later, Frylinck was given another reprieve, on 24, when he was dropped at deep midwicket.Having come so close, Oman will be left ruing the chances they put down, with Frylinck eventually anchoring Namibia to the last over.