Muscat: Oman went down fighting to Namibia by forty runs in 49th Match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 at Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek in Namibia on Friday.

Asked to bat first after losing the toss, Namibia scored a challenging 228 all out in their allotted 50 overs, with Captain JJ Smit top scoring with 56 runs studded with two boundaries and four sixes. Earlier, Michael van Lingen scored a quickfire 51 off 48 balls.

Oman Captain Zeeshan Maqsood was impressive with the ball, chipping in with three wickets for 30 runs. Bilal Khan took 2 off 36 in his allotted 10 overs, while Mohammed Nadeem and Khawar Ali both took two wickets apiece.

In reply, Oman started slow, losing the Jatinder Singh in the fifth over for 6 with only 22 runs on the board. Opener Prajapati and Aqib Ilyas did a recovery act, till Prajapati was dismissed for 21. Oman then had a double blow with the wickets of Aqib Ilyas [25] and Mohammed Nadeem [0]. The wicket of Ayaan Khan [9] derailed the innings.

impressive 50

Captain Zeeshan Maqsood, who walked in, scored a sedate 58 off 90 balls, with five boundaries. Sandeep Goud gave Zeeshan good company with an impressive 50 off 68 balls, but it was too little too late for Oman, and the team was bundled out for 188 in 46.5 overs.

JJ Smit was the most impressive bowler for Namibia, picking up 5 wickets for 26 runs. He was adjudged the player of the match for his all-round performance with the bat and the ball.

Oman is currently leading the point table at 27 points in 19 matches, with 13 wins and five losses. Namibia is the fifth position with 10 points in eight matches.

Brief Scores – Namibia 228/10 Overs (JJ Smit 56(60) 2×4, 4×6, Michael van Lingen 51(48) 1×4, 2×6; Zeeshan Maqsood 30/3) won against Oman 188/10 in 46.5 overs (Zeeshan Maqsood 58 (90) 5×4, Sandeep Goud 50 (68) 3×4, 2×6; JJ Smit 26/5) by 40 Runs