MUSCAT: Namibia rode on David Wiese’s all-round show, which included an unbeaten half century and three wickets, to defeat Oman by 24 runs in the fourth T20I match at the Oman Cricket Academy ground in Al Amerat on Friday. The win saw the visitors draw level the series 2-2 with the decider to be played on Sunday.
Chasing a challenging target of 165 to win after Namibia scored 164/4, thanks to half-centuries from JP Kotze and Wiese, Oman were off to a flyer.
Thursday’s match hero, Naseem Khushi, continued from where he had left with a 14-ball 34 that were studded with six boundaries and a six. Along with Jatinder, Oman were 37 in the fourth over before Khushi was bowled by Ruben Trumpelmann.
Aqib Ilyas, captaining the side in place of Zeeshan Maqsood, for the second match in a row, was run out after a quick 24 as Oman seemed to be on track to chase down with 73/2 in eight overs.
Jatinder Singh (13) departed two balls later as the middle order once again floundered for the hosts with Khalid Kail, Ayaan Khan and Rafiullah back to the pavillion to leave Oman at 101/6 in 14.1 overs. Mohammad Nadeem staged a lone battle as wickets fell regularly with a 24-ball 30 but the hosts were restricted to 140/9.
Wiese picked three for 26 to follow up with his half-century to be named the player of the match. Skipper Gerhard Erasmus claimed two for 17 while Bernard Scholtz , Trumpelmann and Tangeni Lungameni had a wicket apiece.
Earlier, Namibia, stung by the reverse on Thursday, came back strongly. After being put to bat, the openers, JP Kotze and Malan Kruger, set up the platform as they put on an unbroken stand of 57 in the powerplay. Kotze was aggressive in his approach and was dismissed for a 51-ball 78 that included eight boundaries and four sixes. With Namibia 96/3 in the 13th over, the stage was set for their top-franchise player Wiese to go all out.
He slammed the Oman attack all around the park to stay unbeaten on 51 off just 32 balls with a boundary and four sixes to his credit as the visitors set a total of 164/4. Samay Shrivastav, the leg-spinner, was the most successful bowler with 2/20 while Aqib Ilyas and Ayaaan Khan took a wicket each.
Brief scores: Namibia 164/4 (JP Kotze 78, David Wiese 51*, Jan Frylinck 14; Samay Shrivastav 2/20, Aqib Ilyas 1/23, Ayaan Khan 1/4) beat Oman 149/9 (Naseem Khushi 34, Aqib Ilyas 24, Mohammad Nadeem 30; David Wiese 3/26, Gerhard Erasmus 2/17).
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