T20 World Cup 2024: David Wiese's Super Over heroics help Namibia start campaign with victory over Oman

T20 World Cup 2024: David Wiese’s Super Over heroics help Namibia start campaign with victory over Oman

Oman’s fightback in the death overs went in vain as David Wiese’s heroic efforts both with bat and ball in the Super Over helped Namibia start their T20 World Cup campaign with a win in low-scoring enthralling match here at the Kensington Oval on Sunday . David Wiese stars for Namibia yet again Wiese emerged as the hero for Namibia with both bat and ball as he slammed 13 in the Super Over and came back to bowl, got a wicket, defending 21 runs. Despite reducing Oman to 109 in 20 overs, Namibia did not have it easy as the game finished in a tie, marking the first Super Over in a men’s T20 World Cup tournament since 2012. Unlock exclusive access to the latest news on India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Download Now! Defending 110, Bilal Khan gave Oman the perfect start, bowling opener Michael van Lingen for a duck off the very second ball of the innings. While Nikolaas Davin and Jan Frylinck attempted to play their shots, they were hampered by the inconsistent bounce during the early stages of the pursuit. Namibia was 32/1 at the end of the first powerplay. The skipper, Aqib Ilyas, then used spinners and medium pacers to slow the ball down. Despite a lot of smashes and misses, the duo held on to their wickets, and Namibia finished the powerplay at 32/1. As the runs dried up, Davin attempted to replicate Aqib’s spin. Davin hit Aqib for a six after seven consecutive dot balls. The wily spinner, on the other hand, exacted his revenge by having Davin caught by Mohammad Nadeem on the very next delivery. The disciplined spin from Aqib and Zeeshan Maqsood slowed Namibia’s scoring rate in the middle overs. Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus, for his part, attempted to keep the scoring rate tight. In the game of nerves, Oman dropped critical catches, but Maqsood eventually held off Ayaan Khan to remove Erasmus for 13 in the 15th over. The set Frylinck took initiative at this stage and hit a flurry of boundaries to bring the asking rate at par with three overs remaining. Mehran Khan’s excellent 18th over yielded just four byes and claimed JJ Smit’s wicket. David Wiese’s six in the nineteenth over helped bring the equation to five off the last over. Mehran, who had only given four runs in two overs, increased his wicket total from one to three in the first three balls of the last over by bowling Frylinck and trapping Zane Green lbw. The equation eventually came down to two versus one, with the aggressive Wiese up against the cunning Mehran. Wiese failed to connect, but the wicketkeeper botched the ball, giving the batsmen a bye. The game ended in a Super Over. After labouring to chase down 5 runs in the penultimate over of a never-ending chase, Namibia came out firing in the Super Over. Seasoned all-rounder Wiese demonstrated his power-hitting ability by hitting a six and four against Bilal Khan, before skipper Gerhard Erasmus smashed two boundaries. Namibia scored 21 runs, the highest total in a Super Over in a men’s T20 World Cup competition. Wiese excelled with the ball after being tasked with bowling the Super Over for Namibia. He took a wicket and gave only 10 runs as Namibia won the Super Over by 11 runs, kicking off their World Cup campaign with a victory. Earlier, Trumpelmann’s pace attack jolted Oman, taking three wickets inside the powerplay and the pacer went on to pick his fourth wicket of the night, returning with a figure of 4-21. Captian Erasmus with his crafty bowling picked two wickets while the seasoned pacer David Wiese bagged three scalps, conceding 28 runs in 3.4 overs. Opted to bowl first, Ruben Trumpelmann drew the first blood as he got into the act with the first ball, trapping Oman opener Kashyap Prajapati for LBW with a superb yorker on his very first delivery. The very next ball, Trumpelmann delivered another magnificent yorker that caught Oman skipper Aqib Ilyas off guard, and the batter went lbw for a duck. The left-arm pacer had a third in his second over when Naseem Khushi attempted to drive him down the track but only found Erasmus at mid-off. Experienced player Zeeshan Maqsod held the innings together during the first powerplay, keeping Oman’s innings steady and increasing the scoring rate to run a ball. However, Bernard Scholtz had him leg before wicket in the seventh over, putting Oman farther behind. The spinner’s disciplined bowling ensured that Oman’s lower order did not take advantage of the change in speed. Scholtz and Erasmus continued to provide breakthroughs for the Eagles, even as Oman batters battled to move the ball past the inner circle. Oman failed to knock a single boundary in 44 deliveries between the 10th and 17th overs. Khalid Kail then led Oman’s change as the batter slammed big shots before falling prey to David Wiese after scoring 34 runs in 39 balls. When Namibia pacers arrived in the death overs, the Asian side attempted to pick up the scoring rate, but David Wiese and Trumpelmann nibbled away at the tail, bowling Oman out before they could complete their quota of overs. Brief score: Oman 109 ; Ruben Trumpelmann 4-21) vs Namibia 109/6 .

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'It's all about...': KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir backs under-fire pacer Mitchell Starc | Cricket News

‘It’s all about…’: KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir backs under-fire pacer Mitchell Starc | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Gautam Gambhir, the mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), came to the defence of Mitchell Starc, emphasising that the Australian pacer’s recent struggles in the IPL do not define his abilities as a bowler. Despite Starc’s underwhelming performance, Gambhir highlighted the importance of team success over individual brilliance.Starc, who was acquired by KKR for a significant amount of Rs 24.75 crore, has faced criticism for his lackluster returns in the tournament.With just two wickets to his name at an average of 77 and an economy rate of 11 runs per over across four matches, Starc’s form has been far from ideal.However, Gambhir refrained from labeling Starc as a “bad bowler,” acknowledging that cricket is a team sport where individual performances often fluctuate.Instead, he emphasized the collective effort required for the team’s success, suggesting that Starc’s contribution, while not meeting expectations statistically, may still have positive implications within the team dynamic.IPL: POINTS TABLE | ORANGE CAP | PURPLE CAP“It (his poor stats) doesn’t matter, T20 cricket is all about bowlers getting smashed. We’ve got three wins out of four,” Gambhir said.Ahead of their match against LSG in Kolkata, Gambhir added, “In a team sport, it’s the wins that matter. We have got three wins out of four. Why should I not be happy with anyone’s performance? See, people have bad and good days, ultimately, it’s the team that needs to win.“And we’ve got decent results in the first four games of the competition. And we all know how big a threat Mitchell Starc is. Four games doesn’t make him a bad bowler.“And four good games doesn’t make him a brilliant bowler either. So I know what impact he can create and what impact he will create in the competition.”Gambhir further said the Aussie will create an “impact” going forward.“Tomorrow it might be a completely different day. Or probably going forward, it could be a completely different day. An individual can have a brilliant performance and the team doesn’t end up winning.“There’s no reason why you should talk about individual performance. I feel that Mitchell Starc has done reasonably okay. I think he’s bowled some tough overs. And he will create an impact, what he’s been picked for,” he said.A new startGambhir, who served as the mentor for LSG in the last two seasons, has made a return to his former team, KKR. Gambhir had previously led Kolkata to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014 during his tenure with the franchise from 2011 to 2017.During Gambhir’s time as the mentor of LSG, KKR faced them three times without securing a victory. Despite this, Gambhir remains optimistic about the new season, emphasising that each day presents a fresh opportunity to begin anew.“It’s a new day, new start. What difference does it make that what has happened in the last two years? It really makes no difference. We start from scratch.“All of us are really looking forward to the game tomorrow. You know, it’s a quality side. But we are a quality side as well,” he said.Gambhir further reacted to criticism about their head coach Chandrakant Pandit‘s “militant style” of functioning.“I don’t read a lot about what has been said and stuff, but it’s been early days. My working relationship with him has been really, really good and hopefully it continues that way.“He’s been very successful in domestic cricket and that’s why he got this opportunity, so far it’s been really good working with him.”Former KKR all-rounder David Wiese had earlier described Pandit as a strict disciplinarian and a “militant-type” coach.(With PTI inputs)

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