In their final Group A match of the first round of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup at Kardinia Park on Thursday, UAE held off a late scare from all-rounder David Wiese's 55 to secure a close seven-run victory against Namibia.
The UAE's victory on Thursday is also their first triumph in T20 World Cup competition. Namibia was out at 67/7 in 13 overs after Muhammad Waseem hammered a 41-ball fifty and skipper CP Rizwan hit an unbeaten 43 to help UAE record a competitive 148/3.
As the dew began to fall, Wiese stepped up to score three fours and three sixes in 36 balls to share a record partnership in T20 World Cup history with Rubel Trumpelmann for the eighth wicket.
However, Wasim dismissed Wiese in the final over and conceded only six runs to send Namibia packing and advance the Netherlands into the Super 12 stage from Group A alongside the 2014 champions Sri Lanka.
In the first three overs of the 149-run chase, Namibia lost their opening pair of Stephen Baard and Michael van Lingen. Baard hit Junaid Siddique with a leading edge lob to cover, and van Lingen made a flawless deep square leg fielding pick off Basil Hameed.
The ninth over saw the rapid dismissals of Namibia's skipper Gerhard Erasmus (castled by Karthik Meiyappan), JJ Smit (run out at bowler's end), and Nicol Loftie-Eaton (lbw while attempting a switch hit off Hameed).
It appeared that Namibia's match was finished when Jan Frylinck and Zane Green were both bowled by Zahoor Khan within the space of four balls in the 13th over. However, Wiese and Rubel Trumpelmann put together a 70-run stand off 44 balls for the eighth wicket, hammering seven boundaries between them, giving Namibia a chance to win the game.
With 14 needed off the final over, Wiese tried to clear long-on off a cross-seam ball from Muhammad Waseem, but the fielder leapt high in the air to take the catch to perfection, leaving the all-rounder devastated as UAE signed off from T20 World Cup on a high.
Brief Scores: UAE 148/3 in 20 overs (Muhammad Waseem 50, CP Rizwan 43 not out; Ben Shikongo 1/8, Bernard Scholtz 1/22) beat Namibia 141/8 in 20 overs (David Wiese 55, Rubel Trumpelmann 25 not out; Basil Hameed 2/17, Zahoor Khan 2/20) by seven runs