Netherlands, Namibia seal berths in next year's World T20

Dubai, Oct 30:  The Netherlands and Namibia have joined Papua New Guinea and Ireland in booking their place for next year's World T20 after winning their respective qualifying play-off in the ongoing T20 World Cup Qualifier

In the first game played on Tuesday, the Netherlands registered a convincing eight-wicket victory over hosts the UAE, thanks to some excellent bowling from Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren, Brandon Glover and Timm van der Gugten.

After opting to bat first, UAE were 9 for 5 at one stage and were unable to recover and were 80 for 9 at the end of their 20 overs.

In reply, the Netherlands raced to victory with five overs to spare and losing just two wickets on the way. Ben Cooper top scored for the Netherlands with 41 not out.

It's the third time the Netherlands have qualified for the T20 World Cup after featuring in Bangladesh in 2014 and India in 2016.

In the other game, Namibia went on to register a spirited 54-run win against Oman.

Batting first, Namibia posted a solid 161 for 7 with crucial 59 from JJ Smit and 45 from Greg Williams, which were the key to the innings, while Bilal Khan was outstanding with the ball, taking 4 for 19.

At 58-1, Oman were in a good position, with opener Khawar Ali rotating the strike well. But when he was stumped, the Oman collapse was swift.

Three wickets each for Bernard Scholtz and Gerhard Erasmus did the bulk of the damage, leaving Oman 107 all out.

The appearance will be Namibia's first at a senior World Cup since they featured in the 50-over event in 2003

PNG and Ireland had earlier qualified for next year's World T20 slated to be held in Australia after topping their respective groups.

The next year's World T20, the seventh edition of the prestigious tournament, will be held from October 18 to November 15.