T20 World Cup: Namibia Beat Ireland By 8 Wickets, Qualify For Super 12s

Sharjah: In a head-to-head match, Captain Gerhard Erasmus scored an unbeaten 53 as Namibia thrashed Ireland by eight wickets to make it to the main tournament of the ICC T20 World Cup in a Group A qualifying match on Friday.

Namibia first restricted Ireland to 125 for eight in 20 overs on Friday with a stellar performance from their bowlers and then scored 126 for two in 18.3 overs to take their second win and reach Super 12. Erasmus played best captain's innings and hit three fours and a six in his unbeaten 53 off 49 balls. He got good support from David Wiese. Wiese hit one four and two sixes in his unbeaten 28 off 14 balls.

The two shared a match-winning unbeaten partnership of 53 runs for the third wicket. Opener Craig Williams scored 15 runs in 16 balls with the help of three fours and Zane Green made 24 runs in 32 balls.

The Namibian bowlers managed to keep pressure on the Ireland batsmen. For Namibia, Jan Frylinck proved to be a most successful bowler, who grabbed three wickets for 21 runs in four overs. David Wiese dismissed two players for 22 runs, while JJ Smit and Bernard Scholtz got one wicket each.

For Ireland, apart from openers Paul Stirling (38) and Kevin O'Brien (25), only captain Andrew Balbirnie (21) could reach double digits. Sterling and O'Brien got off to a good start in the powerplay and added 55 runs without losing a wicket. In the eighth over, Bernard Scholtz gave Ireland the first blow by dismissing Sterling, who hit five fours and six in 24 balls.

Ireland Batting:

Namibia Bowling:

Namibia Batting:

Ireland Bowling:

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