Ruben Trumpelmann bagged four wickets, including two with his first two balls, as Namibia skittled Oman for 109 all out in 19.4 overs in their T20 World Cup Group B clash in Barbados on Sunday.
South African-born fast bowler Trumpelmann trapped opener Kashyap Prajapati lbw for a golden duck with the first ball of the match, and then followed it up moments later with a toe-crusher to get rid of Oman skipper Aqib Ilyas for a duck.
Zeeshan Maqsood survived the Namibian quick’s hat-trick ball but there was little respite for Oman, who were soon three down after Trumpelmann claimed his third scalp in the third over.
Naseem Khushi attempted an ambitious slog over mid-off but instead failed to connect cleanly and was comfortably caught by Gerhard Erasmus.
Maqsood steadied the ship briefly for Oman with 22 off 20 balls, but his token resistance ended after falling lbw to Bernard Scholtz as Namibia’s decision to bowl first at the Kensington Oval continued to reap dividends.
Wickets continued to fall regularly as Namibia’s bowlers dominated a timid Oman batting line-up, with Erasmus taking the wickets of Ayaan Khan and Mohammad Nadeem to leave the Gulf state reeling at 78-6.
Trumpelmann grabbed his fourth wicket after removing Tangeni Lungameni lbw for 2, finishing with figures of 4-21 off four overs.
While Trumpelmann was the pick of the Namibian bowlers, David Wiese also caught the eye with 3-28 off 3.4 overs.
Namibia are playing in the T20 World Cup for only the third time after previous appearances in 2021 and 2022.
Oman qualified for this year’s tournament after appearances in the 2016 and 2021 tournaments, where they were eliminated in the group stage.
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© Agence France-Presse
