Netherlands beat Namibia to edge closer to T20 World Cup main phase

Bas de Leede gave the Netherlands a shot at qualification for the main phase of the T20 World Cup as they beat Namibia in Geelong.

The all-rounder picked up two wickets, and later hit the winning runs as they claimed a five-wicket win in another last-over finish.

The Dutch will have to face Sri Lanka in their final game. With two wins so far, even a narrow defeat in that game might be enough to see them through – while rain is also forecast for that day.

Namibia had dominated their opening game of the competition two days earlier, as they shocked Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka.

Immediately after that, Gerhard Erasmus, their captain, said it had been “a massive event in our lives”, but that celebrations would have to be moderated as they still had a job to do to qualify.

And yet when they returned to Kardinia Park two days later they looked like they had spent the intervening time overindulging, given their sluggish performance against the Dutch.

Namibia had been the only team to score freely at this ground on Day 1. Each of UAE, Netherlands and mighty Sri Lanka had found runs difficult to come by.

The Namibians caught the bug this time around. They managed just six boundaries, plus a lone six by Jan Frylinck, who top score with 43 from 48 balls, in their innings.

The fact Netherlands did not rip through Namibia’s batting line up, either, appeared to work in their favour. JJ Smit and David Wiese – known as Namibia’s “Bomb Squad” because of their power hitting – faced just nine balls between them at the end of the innings.