MATCH STORIES
Follow UsBarbados was witness to history on June 2 (Sunday) as the venue oversaw the first tie in a T20 World Cup match in nearly 12 years as Namibia and Oman played out a thriller at the Kensington Oval.
Prior to Sunday’s clash, there had only been three ties in T20WC history, the last of which came back in 2012 between New Zealand and West Indies in Pallekele. But Namibia and Oman played out a low-scoring thriller to give the T20WC 2024 a blockbuster start.
The clash between Namibia and Oman was considered a write-off after the first innings, where Oman got bowled out for a paltry 109. However, the Aqib Ilyas-led side staged one of the greatest comebacks of all time to restrict Namibia to 109/6 and force a Super Over.
But to Oman’s dismay, they got overpowered and obliterated in the Super Over, with Namibia first scoring 21 and then restricting the Ilyas-led side to just 10.
For Namibia in the Super Over, it was skipper Gerhard Erasmus and all-rounder David Wiese that did all the damage. Wiese was unable to get the job done in normal time, in the final over when Namibia needed 2 off 1 ball, but the veteran righted the wrongs in the super over, first going 4 6 2 1 in the four balls he faced before also bowling the super over and conceding just 10 runs.
This, by the way, was not just a normal tie. This was one of the lowest scoring ties in T20I history.
In fact, in T20I history, in a match not involving DLS, this was the second-lowest score to have seen a tie. The only other game that saw a lower first innings total ending in a tie (non DLS games) was a clash between Finland and Sweden in Glostrup last year.
Lowest team scores in a tied match (where DLS not involved)
96 - Sweden vs Finland in Glostrup, 2023
109 - Namibia vs Oman in Barbados, 2024
112 - Kuwait vs Qatar in Doha, 2019
121 - Rwanda vs Ghana in Lagos, 2023
Oman would understandably be disappointed because of the way the super over panned out, but the mere fact that they managed to tie the game is nothing short of a miracle.
They looked dead and buried at the halfway point, getting bowled out for 109 after being blown away by a Ruben Trumpelmann storm with the new ball. Then, at 73/2, Namibia looked like they would coast to the target, despite their run rate being on the slower side.
READ: Ruben Trumpelmann delivers two unplayable jaffas to stun Oman upfront
However, Oman produced one of the most accurate and disciplined bowling showings in T20WC history to choke Namibia and enforce a super over.
Oman used seven bowlers in the game and, remarkably, every single bowler had an economy under 7.00. Skipper Ilyas (4-1-17-1) and medium pacer Mehran Khan (3-1-7-3) were the pick of the bowlers for Oman.
Mehran, in fact, bowled both the 18th and the 20th over and combinedly conceded just eight runs off those overs. He was tasked with defending five runs off the final over and he did it, sticking to skiddy, stump-to-stump deliveries to choke the Namibia batters and enforce a super over.
Puzzlingly, however, despite the right-arm seamer’s astonishing showing at the death, llyas opted to give the super over to the left-armer Bilal Khan. The move backfired as Bilal conceded 21 off his over to effectively hand Namibia the game.
For Namibia, this was the first tie in their history in T20s. But Oman had been in this position last year against Nepal, in the T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier Final in Kirtipur.
On that occasion, Oman managed to score 21 in the super over, but 10 runs was all they could manage here.
So, agony for Oman; ecstasy for Namibia.
For both sides, however, the road ahead is only going to get tougher, with Australia and England also part of Group B, alongside Scotland.
In that sense, these are two invaluable points for Namibia, who will certainly fancy causing an upset and progressing to the Super 8 stage.
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