CRICKET
ICC T20: Neesham stars in clinical win for Kiwis
New Zealand registers a comfortable win over Namibia and now they are just one step away from qualifying for the semi-finals.
Namibia is now officially out of the tournament.
New Zealand registered their 3rd victory in a row after their defeat in the first match against Pakistan.
Namibia won the toss and they opted to bowl first.
Guptill was looking good but Wiese got his wicket in the fifth over of the innings.
Both the Kiwi openers were back in the pavilion when the score was just 43.
It was clear that the pitch was not easy for the new batters to come in and score freely.
Kane Williamson and Devon Conway played some sensible cricket but both of them were dismissed in a space of just 2 overs.
The Black Caps were under pressure after the dismissal of Kane and Conway.
The score was just 87-4 in 14 overs.
New Zealand scored just 34 runs in the overs 10-16 and they required a good end to the innings to get to a fighting total.
Phillips-Neesham Stand
New Zealand was struggling at 96-4 in 16 overs and they need some good hitting to reach a respectable total.
They were might be thinking of a total of over 135 or 140 maybe but Phillips and Neesham had something else on their minds.
Both of them displayed their big-hitting prowess in the death overs.
New Zealand scored 67 runs from the last 4 overs.
Namibia once again bowled very poorly in the last 4 overs as they did against Pakistan.
Phillips and Neesham put up a stand of 76 runs off just 36 balls.
Neesham scored 35 runs off 23 balls (2 sixes and 1 four) and Phillips made 39 runs off 21 balls (3 sixes and 1 four).
Due to their solid partnership, the Black Caps put a very good total of 163 runs on the scoreboard.
Namibia’s chase
The Namibian openers started well and for the first time in this tournament.
Namibia didn’t lose any wicket in the powerplay.
They scored 36 runs in the powerplay and the first wicket fell on 47 runs in the 8th over when Michael van Lingen was cleaned bowled by Jimmy Neesham.
Namibia scored just 56 runs in the first 10 overs with the loss of 3 wickets and they were never looked comfortable against the Kiwi pacers.
Southee and Boult bowled well once again and they got 2 wickets each conceding 14 and 20 runs respectively from their 4 overs.
The opener Michael van Lingen was the top scorer with 25 runs.
Namibia ended their innings of 20 overs on a score of 111-7 and lost the match by 52 runs, giving a good boost to the NRR of New Zealand.
SCORECARD
| New Zealand 20 overs 163-4 | Namibia 20 overs 111-7 |
| G. Phillips 39*(21) | Michael van Lingen 25(25) |
| J. Neesham 35*(23) | Zane Green 23(27) |
| K. Williamson 28(25) | Stephan Baard 21(22) |
| Scholtz 1-15 | T. Southee 2-15 |
| Erasmus 1-22 | T. Boult 2-20 |
| Wiese 1-40 | J. Neesham 1-6 |