Namibia suffered a five-wicket defeat to the Netherlands in the second game of the Twenty-20 (T20) World Cup 2022 on Tuesday in Geelong, Australia.

Captain Gerhard Erasmus won the toss and chose to bat first as the Eagles posted an unconvincing total of 126 runs for the loss of six wickets (126/6) in their 20 overs in a low-scoring cricket match.

Namibia did not start well as opener Divan la Cock was sent packing with zero on a pitch which suited the bowlers better than the batsmen.

Michael van Lingen and Stephan Baard stabilised Namibia’s batting, with the latter departing for 19 runs off 22 balls and Jan Frylinck top scoring for Namibia after hitting 43 runs from 48 balls.

With a low total to defend, the Netherlands seemed to be cruising as they survived the power play period without losing a wicket, and at one point looked to be cruising to an easy victory with the scoreline standing at 92/1 with six overs remaining.

Vice-captain Johannes Smit raised Namibia’s hopes of a miracle turnaround when he removed Tom Cooper and Colin Ackermann for six and zero runs respectively in the 16th over.

That swung the action into Namibia’s favour as the Netherlands quickly lost Scott Edwards for one run, leaving the Dutch needing 18 runs to win off the last three overs with five wickets in hand.

However, it was the Netherlands who held their nerve to win the match through man of the match Bas de Leede who scored 30 not out, putting them in a strong position to reach the Super 12 if they defeat Sri Lanka in their final group match on Thursday.

Sri Lanka beat United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 73 runs, but remains third behind Namibia on the log because of an inferior net run rate.

On the other hand, Namibia will need to beat UAE convincingly to harbour any hopes of qualifying for the Super 12.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency