Sharjah, Oct 22 (IANS): A clinical bowling performance helped Namibia restrict Ireland to 125/8 in the 11th match of ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2021 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here on Friday.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, openers Paul Stirling and Kevin'O'Brien gave Ireland a flying start. The duo played attacking cricket and took Ireland to 55-0, their highest powerplay score of the tournament so far.
Bernard Scholtz finally provided Namibia the much-needed breakthrough by dismissing dangerous Paul Stirling (38 off 23 balls), who lofted a catch to Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton in the deep in the 8th over. Jan Frylinck then got rid 'f O'Brien, who was into a risky shot, with Michael van Lingen taking the catch.
The loss of openers in quick succession slowed the run rate as Ireland reached 71 after ten overs, with eight wickets in hand.
If the first ten overs belonged to Ireland, Namibia dominated the later part of the innings. The Namibian bowlers bowled with complete control and didn't give any freebies to Irish batters. It was Frylinck and Wiese who did the damage with the ball, taking five wickets between them as Namibia restricted'Ireland's innings to 125/8 in 20 overs.
Brief scores:
Ireland 125/8 in 20 overs (Paul Stirling'38, Kevin O'Brien 25; Jan Frylinck 3/21, David Wiese 2/22) against Namibia.