Sharjah, Oct 22 (/Agency) Skipper Gerhard Erasmus played a brilliant knock of 53 runs as Namibia defeated Ireland by eight wickets and nine balls to spare while chasing 126 runs in Group A match of the T20 World Cup here on Friday. The victory sealed Namibia’s berth in the Super 12 round, which begins on Saturday. Meanwhile, Ireland bowed out of the tournament with two defeats and a win in three games. Despite Erasmus fifty, the star of the match was David Wiese, who took two wickets for 22 runs before scoring a decisive 14-ball 28.
The batting side never managed to recover from the shock as barring Andy Balbirnie (21 off 28) none of the remaining batters managed to go past the double-digit figure. After a short third-wicket stand of 27 runs between Balbirnie and Gareth Delany (9 off 18), the remaining eight Ireland wickets fell for just 31 runs. Chasing the target, Namibia lost their first wicket early in Craig Williams, who contributed a 15 off 16 before falling to Curtis Campher (2/14) in the sixth over. Erasmus rebuilt the innings steadily with Zane Green (24 off 32) in a 48-run stand for the second wicket. Green then became the second victim of Campher before Wiese came in showered boundaries around the park to increase the run rate. The star performer shot a boundary and two sixes to chase down the target with nine balls to spare while Erasmus reached his 50 from the other end. Erasmus had some luck on his side as well as the bails didn’t come off despite the ball hitting the stumps in the 15th over bowled by Craig Young (0/33).