T20 World Cup: Oman fall narrowly short to Namibia in Super Over thriller

David Wiese is the hero with bat and ball in the decisive over of the Group B clash in Barbados

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  Oman's Naseem Khushi (L) is bowled by Namibia's David Wiese in the super over during the ICC men's Twenty20 World Cup 2024 group B cricket match between Namibia and Oman at Kensington Oval, in Bridgetown, Barbados on June 2, 2024. (Photo by Randy Brooks / AFP)

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  Namibia's Jan Frylinck hits a four during the T20 World Cup match against Oman. AFP

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  Oman bowler Mehran Khan celebrates the dismissal of Namibia's Zane Green. AFP

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  Ayaan Khan celebrates with Oman teammates after the dismissal of Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus. AFP

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  Namibia's Nikolaas Davin bats during the T20 World Cup game against Oman. Getty Images

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  Bilal Khan celebrates taking the wicket of Namibia's Michael Van Lingen. AFP

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  Namibia's Jan Frylinck bats during the T20 World Cup match against Oman. Getty Images

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  Oman's Khalid Kail hits a six against at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. AFP

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  Namibia's Bernard Scholtz celebrates the dismissal of Oman's Zeeshan Maqsood. AFP

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  Namibia's Ruben Trumpelmann celebrates the dismissal of Oman captain Aqib Ilyas. AFP

Oman were denied a dramatic fightback victory in their opening T20 World Cup game on Sunday night as Namibia sealed the points in a Super Over following a low-scoring thriller in Barbados.

David Wiese was the hero for Namibia, contributing 13 runs in their super over total of 21 before restricting Oman to 10 runs with the ball in hand to seal a crucial Group B win at Kensington Oval.

The match had gone to a decisive extra over after a tense duel saw both teams finish with 109 runs from their allotted 20 overs.

Oman had looked to be heading for defeat after a superb four-wicket bowling display from Ruben Trumpelmann saw them all out for 109 off 19.4 overs.

But Oman's bowlers responded with a disciplined performance to contain Namibia's batters, with Mehran Khan conjuring a superb spell to leave the match on a knife edge; Khan finished with figures of three wickets for seven runs off three overs.

The veteran Oman bowler took two wickets in the final over to frustrate Namibia, who had needed just five runs from the over to clinch victory.

But Khan was bizarrely overlooked for the super over bowling duties by Oman, with Bilal Khan handed the ball instead. That move backfired spectacularly, though, with Wiese blasting a four off the first ball and then crushing a full toss for six off Khan's second delivery.

Wiese took three more runs off the next two balls before Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus hit back-to-back fours to set Oman a daunting victory target of 22 off their super over.

Wiese took over the bowling duties for Namibia and after conceding just two runs from his first two deliveries, took the wicket of Naseem Khushi.

Two more singles left Oman needing 18 from the last delivery to win, meaning Wiese could allow Zeeshan Maqsood to blast a six knowing victory was assured.

"I definitely aged a couple of years tonight," Wiese, 39, said. "And I don't have a lot of years left in me. It was an emotionally draining evening."

Wiese said he had been confident of steering Namibia to victory with bat and ball in the super over.

"It helped that I had a feel of the game and knew if I get a few hits out in the Super Over .... then with the ball, felt like taking the ball and executing.

"The pitch was difficult and didn't play the way we thought. But we adapted well."

Oman captain Aqib Ilyas was left lamenting an agonising near miss but defended the decision to opt for Bilal as the super over bowler over the in-form Khan.

"I think Bilal is one of the best bowlers you can have at this level," Aqib said. "But there are days where you plan and it doesn't execute.

"He was clear, we were clear, but maybe the ball was wet and he couldn't execute."

Earlier, Trumpelmann had given Namibia a dream start with two wickets from the first two deliveries of the match, part of a four-wicket performance. Wiese also impressed in the regulation 20 overs with 3-28 off 3.4 overs.

Namibia made hard work of the run chase, however, with Jan Frylinck (45) and Niko Davin (24) top scoring as the southern Africans came up just short of their victory target.