T20 World Cup: UAE beat Namibia to send Netherlands to Super 12 | Cricket News

GEELONG (Australia): The United Arab Emirates won their first ever match at a 20-20 World Cup on Thursday to upset Namibia by seven runs and the The Netherlands in the Super 12 phase of the tournament.
The Africans would have joined Sri Lanka in the next round rather than the Dutch had they won, but against the odds the UAE restricted them to 141-8 as they chased down 149 for victory.

Zahoor Khan and Basil Hameed picked up two wickets each as the UAE reduced Namibia to 69-7 in the 13th over before late fireworks from David Weise (55 off 36 balls) ensured a thrilling final over.
UAE skipper Chundangapoyil Rizwan won the toss and elected to bat but it was difficult against an attack led by pacer Ruben Trumpelmanna key performer in Namibia’s run to the second round 12 months ago.
Supported by veteran Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, JJ Smit and Jan Frylinck, they restricted UAE openers Muhammad Waseem and Vriitya Aravind to just 39 off the first eight overs.

As the pressure mounted, Aravind (21) got an edge from Scholtz and the first wicket fell.
Waseem started to open the bat to get the scoreboard moving and with Rizwan by his side, he brought up his fifth T20 half-century off 40 balls.
But he was gone two balls later, sending a Ben Shikongo delivery to third man into the safe hands of Trumpelmann.
They reached three figures in the 15th over before Alishan Sharafu (4) was out with Rizwan (43 not out) and Basil Hameed (25 not out) propelling them to a respectable total of 33 runs off the last over two overs were plundered.
In reply, Namibia lost their openers early with Stephan Baard getting a thick edge off Junaid Siddique and Ahmed Raza taking the catch, then Michael van Lingen was caught on the ropes.
That left them on 16-2 after three overs and their work cut out, which didn’t get any easier when Jan Nicol Lofti-Eaton was out lbw on review two overs later to take the second wicket of India-born Hameed not concern
When captain Gerhard Erasmus was bowled by Karthik Meiyappan, who scored a hat-trick against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, and JJ Smit was run out, Namibia were in disarray at 46-5.
Zahoor Khan then removed the dangerous Jan Frylinck with a yorker and Zaner Green three balls later, leaving Namibia staring into the abyss in the 13th over.
But Weise never gave up and along with Trumelmann (not out for 25) started to save his country with some power hitting, reducing the target to 20 off the last two overs to fall just short.