The Netherlands and Namibia joined Papua New Guinea and Ireland in booking their place at the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup in Australia next year.
In the first game, the Netherlands bowled first and had hosts UAE 9 for 5 at one stage and they were never able to recover, eventually posting a score of 80.
Netherlands chased that down with a little under five overs to spare.
In the second game, Namibia batted first and put on a decent 161 for 7 with JJ Smit and Greg Williams batting well.
Captain Gerhard Erasmus led the charge with the ball as Oman were bowled out for 107.
Netherlands through to Australia after beating UAE
The Netherlands booked their place at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with 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.
It’s the third time the Netherlands have qualified for the T20 World Cup after featuring in Bangladesh in 2014 and India in 2016.
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.
Netherlands qualify for ICC T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia
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.
Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar: “The way the seamers bowled was fantastic.
“The roles we have for certain players in the team – especially Paul ven Meekeren and Brandon Glover – are there to give us a bit of firepower.
“Once we had them under control you can introduce spin to see if they want to take it on and in the end they didn’t, so it works quite well.
“We have still not played at 100 per cent, bowling a team out for 80 and chasing it down with just two wickets is obviously close to 100 per cent.
“But we can still do better and the semi-final against Ireland is a good chance to do that.”
UAE captain Ahmed Raza said: “It is not nice to be out of the competition being the host nation, so that is disappointing.
“We have a quick turnaround until the next game does wonders as well, if you have a few days off then you can dwell on the loss.
“I think it is testament to the whole dressing room that we have been focusing on our cricket and we finished third and that is why we have another go tomorrow.”
Namibia qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after beating Oman
Namibia joined PNG, Ireland and the Netherlands in booking their place at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia next year after a 54-run victory over 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.
Namibia captain said: “It has been a phenomenal year for us, coming through Division 2 qualifiers and gaining ODI status and I think this is perfect cap for us and the credit must go to the team and the staff.
“We knew there was going to be a difficult situation in the game and at 69 for 5 we needed someone to step up and luckily two guys did.
“We want more people playing cricket in Namibia and we want to spread the game and if they see us do well on the world stage then it gives them an incentive to play and think of a career.”
Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood said: “It was a really tough game and we were not able to make it.
“We started brilliantly but then JJ Smit’s innings brought Namibia back into the game when he smashed more than 50 runs.
“We started brilliantly with the bat and after six overs no one was able to stay there.
“We have a chance against Hong Kong and we can still make it.”
Scores in Brief:
Netherlands beat UAE by eight wickets, Dubai International Cricket Stadium
UAE 80- 9, 20 overs (Ahmed Raza 22, Waheed Ahmed 19, Brandon Glover 4-12, Tim van der Gugten 2-10, Paul ven Meekeren 2-13)
Netherlands 81-2, 15.1 overs (Ben Cooper 41 not out, Colin Ackermann 11 not out, Zahoor 1-12, Rohan Mustafa 1-19)
Namibia beat Oman by 54 runs, Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Namibia 161-7, 20 overs (Johannes Jonathan Smit 59, Craig Williams 45, Bilal Khan 4-19, Aqib Ilyas 1-9)
Oman 107 all out, 19.1 overs (Khawar Ali 41, Aqib Ilyas 18, Bernard Scholtz 3-14, Gerhard Erasmus 3-19)
© ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2018
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