T20 World Cup: We want to build on this momentum, says Rizwan after after UAE win

The UAE end 26-year wait for victory in a World Cup match

Rituraj Borkakoty

Published: Fri 21 Oct 2022, 9:42 AM

Last updated: Fri 21 Oct 2022, 10:04 AM

Showing remarkable composure at the death, Muhammad Waseem, a hard-hitting opening batsman and a part-time medium pacer, used his slower balls superbly to end the UAE's 26-year wait for victory in a World Cup match.

In a match where fortunes kept swinging like a pendulum, David Wiese (55 off 36 balls) and Ruben Trumpelmann (25 not out off 24 balls) seemed to have tilted the balance in Namibia's favour when they needed 21 off 12 balls.

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Wiese and Trumpelmann staged a stirring fightback after the Africans were gasping for breath at 69 for seven while chasing 149.

But Zahoor Khan (4-0-20-2), who had earlier produced two dream yorkers to break through the defences of Jan Frylinck (14) and Zane Green (2) in the 13th over, refused to go down without a fight.

The veteran pacer conceded only seven runs in a stifling penultimate over, never giving Wiese and Trumpelmann the freedom to swing their bats.

Then Waseem, who has earlier set the platform for the UAE's competitive total of 148 for three with a 50 off 41 balls, was given the responsibility to defend 14 runs in the final over.

It was not a task for the faint-hearted, but Waseem rose to the challenge — perhaps the biggest challenge of his life on a cricket field.

Drawing inspiration from his experience of bowling death overs in UAE's local club matches, Waseem gave away only six runs in the final over and struck the decisive blow when he had Wiese caught in the deep by Alishan Sharafu.

In the end, the Namibians finished their innings at 141 for eight, sparking wild celebrations among the UAE players.

The 37-year-old Wiese, who had also played international cricket for South Africa in the past, was inconsolable at the dug out as Namibia bowed out of the tournament with a heartbreaking loss.

The thrilling UAE victory ended Namibia's hopes of qualifying for the Super 12 as Sri Lanka and the Netherlands advanced to the next round from Group A.

It was also the UAE's first victory in a World Cup since their famous win over the Netherlands in the 1996 edition of the one-day World Cup.

The majority of the players in the UAE squad were not even born when the team had beaten the Dutch by seven wickets in the 1996 World Cup.

Skipper CP Rizwan, who played his part in Thursday's victory with an impressive unbeaten 43 off 29 balls, said the victory over Namibia could act as the catalyst for the game's growth in the UAE.

"It's a massive moment. Yeah, we have a young side. Definitely, we want to build on this. We want to build on this momentum. We want to build a lot of great things for UAE moving forward," Rizwan said at the post-match press conference.

"We have a 16-year-old kid (Aayan Khan, youngest player in the T20 World Cup) who has done a really great job in that. We have Karthik (Meiyappan), who had already created history, first UAE cricketer to take a World Cup hat trick.

"So a lot of good memories, moments definitely for UAE cricket in this tournament, and we definitely look forward to build on this."