Namibia clinch T20I series with commanding victory over Oman
Muscat - Namibia delivered a clinical performance, securing a commanding 62-run victory in the fifth and final T20I match against Oman, ultimately winning the series 3-2 at the Oman Cricket Academy ground on Sunday.
Namibia’s triumph capped off an entertaining series, with both teams experimenting with different combinations ahead of their participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA, scheduled to commence on June 1.
On Sunday, Oman failed to chase down the stiff target despite a flying start after the visitors, batting first, put up a formidable 212/3.
Oman’s opening batter Naseem Khushi, who has been in roaring form, along with No.3 batter Aqib Ilyas shared a 83-run stand after the fall of Kashyap Prajapati in the second over.
Khushi’s onslaught saw him hammer 49 off 28 balls in a knock that comprised four sixes and three fours. He was all set for half-century before a mix-up with Ilyas led to his run out in the 10th over.
Oman were much ahead of Namibia (40/0) at the end of powerplay as they scored 66/1.
Ilyas completed his half-century (51 off 29 balls) but his exit soon after Zeeshan Maqsood’s dismissal led to a middle-order collapse as Oman slumped from 99/2 to 116/6.
Ilyas’s inning bore his stamp of aggressiveness as he blasted five boundaries and two sixes before he was caught by Jan Frylinck off Bernard Scholtz.
Ayaan Khan and Rafiullah were back in the hut without any notable contributions as the task of steep run-rate hit the hosts’ batting line-up.
Scholtz nearly wrapped up the game for Namibia in his fourth and team’s 14th over as he picked two wickets off successive balls to be on a hat-trick. He removed Nadeem off the first ball and Fayyaz Butt was clean bowled off the next delivery. Samay Shrivastav avoided the hat-trick but at 118/8 Oman’s chase was as good as derailed. Scholtz’s magical spell ended with figures of 4-0-20-4.