West Indies scrapped to a nervy five-wicket win before allrounder David Wiese helped Namibia edge Oman in a Super Over on Sunday as the first two Twenty20 World Cup games in the Caribbean produced low-scoring but tense contests.
Namibia’s Ruben Trumpelmann set a record in the dramatic Group B game in Barbados, becoming the first man to take wickets with the first two deliveries of a T20 cricket international.
The left-arm fast bowler took another wicket in his second over and returned a career-best 4-21, also taking the catch to finish the Oman innings at 109.
Namibia was on course for victory, needing five runs off the last six balls and Jan Fylinck unbeaten on 45, but Mehran Khan took two wickets and Oman narrowly missed a run-out chance that could have the game.
The 39-year-old allrounder then went to work in the tiebreaker, striking a four and a six to help his team plunder 21 batting first in the Super Over.
Wiese, who took 3-28 in the regulation overs, then took a wicket and restricted Oman’s Super Over to 10-1 in a player-of-the- match performance.
Aged a couple of years tonight — (and) I don’t have a lot of years left in me,” the 39-year-old Wiese said, laughing. “Emotionally draining evening.”
Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus said his batters needed to be more accountable in the momentum-shifting moments.
