After starting their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign in a thrilling way, the African nation Namibia (NAM) did not have a good day at the office when they faced Scotland (SCO) in the Group B fixture of the ongoing ICC mega cricket extravaganza on Friday, June 7, in Barbados.
Notably, after winning the toss, Namibia started their innings rather disastrously after choosing to bat first at the Kingston Oval. Both the openers and the middle order batters failed to get going and kept losing wickets regularly. JP Kotze (0 off 3 balls) didn't bother the scorers while Nikolaas Davin failed to convert his start into an impactful score (20 off 12 balls) for his side. Jan Frylinck too could not steady the ship and got out (12 off 14) cheaply.
Skipper Gerhard Erasmus was the lone fighter for Namibia
Amid wickets falling in tandem from the other end, skipper Gerhard Erasmus led from the front and scored a vital fifty (52 off 31 balls) before getting stumped, thereby derailing Namibia from making a comeback into the game in a bid to put up a big total on the board. Even during the fag stage of the innings, Scotland showed no respite towards Namibia as kept pressuring them in the 18th over by dismissing the star of the last World Cup game, Ruben Trumpelmann. As a result, the African nation finished with 155/9 on the board in 20 overs.
Among notable bowling performances for the European nation, Brad Wheal garnered all the limelight by claiming a three-wicket haul while Bradley Currie ably supported him with two victims to his name. Besides, Michael Leask, Chris Greave and Christopher Sole shared a wicket each.
Richie Berrington's Captain's knock led Scotland to first ever win over Namibia
Meanwhile, speaking of the run chase in the T20 World Cup 2024 encounter, Scotland Captain Richie Berrington starred with the bat by becoming the top scorer (47* off 35 balls) for his side. Not just that, at one stage, Scotland were stuttering with the score reading 73/4 on the board. But Berrington came to the rescue and stitched a crucial 74-run partnership with the man of the moment Michael Leask (35 off 17 balls) to take the game deep and clinch their first-ever victory over Namibia by five wickets at the biggest stage of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, here's how the two Captains of the Namibia vs Scotland game reacted:
Matt Cross, on behalf of Winning Captain (Namibia): "Berrington has a bit of cramp, but he'll be alright. An important win, we've given ourselves a chance to go through with two more big games to come. Currie's archer celebration, I can't say I'm a fan of it! Good to be out there and get the job done. Leasky can talk and we'll hear about his sixes later. Incredible striking. We have to turn up in a couple of days time, have to give ourselves a chance by winning against Oman then it's all guns blazing for Australia."
Gerhard Erasmus, Losing Captain (Scotland): "It's a big rivalry and 150 on the board at a World Cup, we let that one slip. We weren't up to scratch with the ball or in the field today. Sweeter to score runs in a win, hopefully we'll regroup and come back stronger. We'll give it our best shot every game, four more points to come."
Michael Leask, POTM: "That means a lot, we've repaid the faith of the people that have come to watch. Last time they had us three-down in the first over, so this feels special. Two more big games to go. My role is simple, hit the ball hard, find gaps, if it's in the slot, hit it out of the ground. It came off. Put them under pressure, run hard."
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