Namibia: Eagles Off to Winning Start in Oman

2 April 2024
The Namibian (Windhoek)
By Helge Schutz

The Namibia Richelieu Eagles got their Oman tour off to a winning start when they beat Oman by four wickets in their first T20 international match at Al Amarat on Monday.

After winning the toss and electing to field, Namibia restricted Oman to 109/9 off their 20 overs, and then replied with 114/6 with eight balls to spare.

Oman got off to a quick start as their openers Kashyap Prajapati and Pratik Athavale put on 41 runs for the opening wicket at nearly eight runs to the over before Tangeni Lungameni got the breakthrough, dismissing Athavale for 15.

Prajapati maintained a brisk run rate before he was dismissed by Bernard Scholtz for 33, which came off 29 balls (4x4,1x6), and when Oman reached the halfway mark of their innings they were well set at 71/2.

Dylan Leicher, however, sparked a Namibian revival with the dismissal of Aqib Ilyas for 19, as Oman lost their next eight wickets for only 35 runs.

With Tangeni Lungameni and Ruben Trumpelmann cutting through Oman's middle order, Namibia gained the upper hand, while the only other batsman to reach double figures was Fayyaz Butt who remained not out on 10.

Lungameni was Namibia's best bowler, taking three wickets for 13 runs, which also won him the player of the match award, while Trumpelmann took 2/28.

In reply, Namibia got off to a poor start as Oman pace bowler Fayyaz Butt cut through their top order. He dismissed Malan Kruger for 8, and Gerhard Erasmus and Jan Frylinck for 3 each, while Mehran Khan dismissed JP Kotze for 16, as Namibia crashed to 36/4 after six overs.

Zane Green and Gerhard Janse van Rensburg started Namibia's revival with a 36-run partnership for the fifth wicket and when Khan bowled Van Rensburg for 7, the match was evenly balanced with Namibia at 72/5 with eight overs remaining.

Green followed shortly after for 26 to set up a tense finish, but the experienced David Wiese joined Dylan Leicher to steer Namibia to victory as they reached the target with eight balls to spare.

Wiese remained not out on 23 off 16 balls (2x4,1x6), while Leicher was 12 not out.

For Oman, Butt took three wickets for 21 runs, while Khan took 2/19.

Namibia now lead the five-match T20 series1-0 with the second international set to take place at the same venue on Tuesday.

Read the original article on Namibian.

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