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 after they thrashed Scotland by eight wickets in Dubai later on Friday, but they still need Afghanistan to beat New Zealand, before winning their final game against Namibia on Monday.

Clinical Kiwis complete their task
New Zealand came into the game with their fate already in their own hands, knowing two straight wins would see them join Pakistan in the semi-finals.

At 87-4 off 14 overs, having just lost captain Kane Williamson and Devon Conway in quick succession, they were at risk of posting a sub-par total.

But Phillips, who made 39 not out off 21 balls, and Neesham, who hit an unbeaten 35 off 23 balls, held their nerve, taking two overs to play themselves in before their counter-attack.

They clattered 67 off the last four overs, including five sixes, to set Namibia a higher total than they have ever made against a top-tier nation in T20 internationals.

Namibia openers Stephan Baard and Michael van Lingen made a promising opening stand of 47 but New Zealand’s versatile bowling unit proved too strong.

Fast bowlers Tim Southee, who removed Wiese plumb lbw, and Trent Boult took 2-15 and 2-20 respectively, while spinners Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi limited the scoring again.

And while they could not ultimately overhaul Afghanistan’s superior net run-rate, the Black Caps were impressively clinical in only allowing Namibia 26 runs off the last six overs.

How is net run-rate calculated?
Run-rate is the average number of runs scored per over by a team in their entire innings - so, for example, a score of 160 off 20 overs equals eight runs per over.

Net run-rate is calculated by subtracting the opposition’s run-rate from the other team’s run-rate.

The winning side will therefore have a positive net run-rate, and the losers a negative net run-rate.

In a tournament, net run-rate is worked out by taking the average runs per over scored by that team in each game and subtracting the average runs per over scored against them in each game.

If a team is bowled out inside their allotted overs, their run-rate is calculated by dividing the runs by the maximum overs they could have batted - 20 overs in the case of this tournament.

‘We did what we had to do’ - what they said
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.”

Source: BBC
-Agencies