Staff Reporter.
New Zealand strengthened their chances of reaching the Men’s T20 World Cup semi-finals and eliminated Namibia with a 52-run win in Sharjah.
The Black Caps are now second in Group 2 and will go through with victory over Afghanistan in their final group game on Sunday.
After an underwhelming start, a superb unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 76 off 36 balls between Glenn Phillips and Jimmy Neesham carried the Kiwis to an imposing total of 163-4.
Namibia started well before losing three wickets for just eight runs and, after key man David Wiese fell in the 15th over, they subsided to 111-7 off their 20 overs.
New Zealand are now two points clear of Afghanistan but their net run-rate, which determines who progresses if multiple teams finish equal on the same points, remains lower.
It means New Zealand must beat Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi.
India are still in contention, but must secure a big win over Scotland in Dubai later on Friday, hope Afghanistan beat New Zealand and then also heavily beat Namibia on Monday.
New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham: “We did what we had to do. You come into these games and everyone talks about the repercussions of the results for the tournament but for us it’s about concentrating on what we do well.
“The way we went about that on a challenging surface was really pleasing.”
Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus: “The death overs didn’t go our way again. We have to go back to make some plans to get them to go our way.
“We have one more game to nail that against India. They are a very good side but hopefully we can do that against them.”
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson: “We all know what to expect when we come here, it’s a real scrap and we had to try and put something together in the middle.
“Afghanistan are a really, really strong side, they have done so well in this tournament and we’re looking forward to playing them.”