In the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 held at Kensington Oval on Thursday, Scotland defeated Namibia by five wickets thanks to a joint bowling performance and skipper Richie Berrington’s unbeaten 47.
Thanks to opening batsman Michael Jones’ 20-ball 26-run haul, Scotland managed to score 49 runs in 7.3 overs when behind 156 at the expense of two wickets.
With 83 needed off nine overs, they quickly fell to 73-4 in 11 overs. Then Berrington and Michael Leask’s immaculate striking altered the tide of the match.
Leask hit 35 off 17 with four massive sixes, but Ruben Trumpelmann got rid of him after they combined to contribute 74 runs for the fifth wicket from 42 balls.
However, with nine out of 13 needed, the game was already stacked in favour of Scotland. With nine balls remaining, Berrington secured the win with a six off David Weise to conclude the match.
Berrington hit two boundaries and as many sixes in his 47 runs off 37 balls.
Gerhard Erasmus, the captain of Namibia, claimed two wickets, while Bernard Scholtz, Trumpelmann, and Tangeni Lungameni each claimed one.
Earlier, Namibia lost JP Kotze on the third ball without scoring any runs, capping an awful start to their batting innings. The Scotland bowlers took three early wickets to reduce Namibia to 55-4 in 7.3 overs, and the batting side was unable to rally.
Then, Erasmus and Zane Green combined for 51 runs off of 38 balls, with Erasmus making the most of the combination. Erasmus hit seven boundaries, including two sixes, in his 31-ball 52.
Brad Wheal removed them in the same over after David Weise scored 14 off 13 and Green scored 28 off 27. Namibia completed their allotted 20 overs with a score of 155-9.
Wheal (3-33), who bowled first for Scotland, was followed in wicket-taking by Brad Currie (2 wickets).