T20 World Cup 2022 Namibia vs Netherlands: Who won today's match?

The Netherlands beat Namibia by five wickets in a Group A clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Geelong on Tuesday, October 18.

In a low-scoring game, Namibia batted first and posted a disappointing 121/6. At one point in their chase, the Netherlands seemed to be cruising at 92/1 in the 14th over. However, Namibia fought back hard to take the game into the last over. The lack of runs, though, eventually came back to haunt them.

Chasing 122, the Netherlands were off to a terrific start as they reached 51/0 at the end of the powerplay. Vikramjit Singh was in a punishing mood as he smashed David Wiese for consecutive boundaries in the second over. He followed it up with two sixes off Ben Shikongo. Vikramjit’s decisive innings of 39 from 31 ended in the ninth over when he took on a short ball from Bernard Scholtz and was caught at deep midwicket.

Following Vikramjit’s dismissal Max O'Dowd anchored the innings. While he was content rotating the strike for the most part, he did whack a six off Scholtz as the Netherlands cruised towards the target.

The Dutch opener’s innings ended on a run-a-ball 35, courtesy of a brilliant piece of fielding by Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus. O'Dowd pushed a delivery from JJ Smit towards mid-off and set off for a single, but Erasmus sprinted towards the ball and scored a direct hit at the non-striker’s end.

Smit raised hopes of an unlikely turnaround by dismissing Tom Cooper (six) and Colin Ackermann (0) in the 16th over. Cooper holed out to deep midwicket, while Ackermann sliced a catch to mid-off.

There was more trouble for the Netherlands as Scott Edwards (one) chipped a slower ball from Jan Frylinck to short cover. A wicket maiden left the Dutch needing 18 runs to get off the last three overs with five wickets in hand.

Wiese bowled an excellent 18th over, conceding only six runs. However, Bas de Leede (30*) held his nerve to take the Netherlands over the line in the last over. With six needed off six balls, he swatted the first ball from Wiese over mid-off for four.

Netherlands clinch yet another last-over thriller and go on top of Group A in First Round 👏

📝 Scorecard: bit.ly/NAM-v-NED-Firs…

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A couple off the third delivery saw the Dutch register their second win in as many games, putting them in a strong position to reach the Super 12.

Namibia crawl to 121 for 6 against Netherlands

Namibia came up with an inadequate batting performance to finish with 121/6 in their 20 overs after opting to bat against the Netherlands. Frylinck again top-scored with 43, but it came off 48 balls. For the Netherlands, De Leede claimed 2/18, while most of the other bowlers were economical, while also chipping in with wickets.

Namibia got off to a poor start, losing Divan la Cock (0) in the second over. He lofted a catch to long-off as a Tim Pringle delivery stopped and turned. Michael van Lingen (20) hit Ackermann for a couple of impressive fours, but fell to the bowler while attempting a lofted stroke. Paul van Meekeren then had Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton caught behind for a duck as Namibia slipped to 32/3 in the sixth over.

Stephan Baard was given lbw in the same over, but got the decision overturned. In a bizarre occurrence, the third umpire initially upheld the on-field decision, even though there was a clear spike in UltraEdge. But he realized his mistake and made the correction just in time.

Baard could never get going though. He was out for 19 off 22, slog-sweeping Roelof van der Merwe to deep square leg. Frylinck and Namibia skipper Erasmus (16) added 41 for the fifth wicket, but it came at a very slow pace. Frylinck’s innings had only one six and a four, while Erasmus did not hit any boundaries.

Namibia have set a target of 122 for Netherlands 👀

Will the score prove enough?

#NAMvNED | 📝: bit.ly/NAMvNED-FirstR… https://t.co/KgwPpympa2

Both batters fell to De Leede in the penultimate over. Frylinck dragged an off-cutter to long-on, while Erasmus outside edged a delivery back onto the stumps. Coming on the back of a superb showing against Sri Lanka, this was quite an inexplicable batting effort from Namibia.

Namibia vs Netherlands: Who won man of the Match in today's T20 World Cup 2022 Match?

De Leede came up with an impressive all-round effort for the Netherlands. He claimed two wickets and guided the chase with a mature knock. Openers Vikramjit and O’Dowd also contributed crucial 30s.

For Namibia, Frylinck top-scored with 43 and registered figures of 1/16 with the ball. Smit gave the team slight hope by claiming two wickets.

De Leede was named Player of the Match for his fine all-round effort.