MATCH STORIES
Follow Us2.5 years ago, it was the Men’s T20 World Cup in the UAE that Ruben Trumpelmann announced himself at the biggest stage.
Trumpelmann finished that tournament with six wickets in eight matches at an economy of 7.7 and made a real name for himself as a powerplay specialist. The left-arm seamer, who was just 23 at that time, bowled 16 overs with the new ball for Namibia and took 4 wickets at an astonishing economy of 6.1.
Three of these wickets came in the SAME OVER, in the space of four balls, against Scotland at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, where, under floodlights, he absolutely bamboozled the Scottish batters with his swing.
Different opponent, different venue, different hairstyle even, but, 951 days later, the explosive left-arm seamer ensured lightning struck twice. He delivered two unplayable jaffas in the first two balls of the clash against Oman in Barbados to ensure that Namibia made the absolute perfect start in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
With the new ball in hand thanks to Namibia winning the toss and opting to field, Trumpelmann first trapped Kashyap Prajapati plumb in front with an inswinger that swung MILES.
The right-handed Prajapati, who was playing his second T20 World Cup, looked like he expected a ‘kinder’ delivery first up but Trumpelmann, steaming in, delivered a Starc-esque pacy inswinger that completely caught the Oman opener off guard.
A dream delivery. A dream start for Namibia. 0/1.
It was always going to be near-impossible for Trumpelmann to better what he delivered on the first ball, which was pretty much the perfect delivery a left-arm seamer could bowl to a right-hander.
Incredibly, however, the 26-year-old somehow managed to bowl an EVEN BETTER BALL immediately to send Oman skipper Aqib Ilyas packing for a duck.
Ball number two, Trumpelmann delivered a big, booming inswinger that swung from outside off-stump and landed right on the front toe of Ilyas, who was absolutely clueless and short of answers.
The on-field umpire ruled Ilyas out in less than a second, but Ilyas went upstairs, seemingly because he was in disbelief. But that was to no avail as ball tracking showed three reds — the plumbest of plumb LBWs, if you can call it that.
Trumpelmann missed his hat-trick, but he struck once more in his second over to take 3+ wickets in the powerplay in a T20WC game for the second time in his career.
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