NAM vs PNG

That is all she wrote for this one then with the curtains drawing on the UAE Summer T20 Bash. It was as exciting and closely contested competition as it could get and with the ICC Men's T20 World Cup coming up in just a week's time, the teams will take great learnings out of this tournament as they head out to make it to the Super 12 stage of the marquee event. We hope you enjoyed our coverage of this game as much as we did bringing it to you. Thank you so much for tuning into Sportskeeda and do keep a check on all the other cricketing news and action from across the globe including Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League which is set to commence in about an hour's time from now. On behalf of my co-commentators Habil Ahmed and Sooryanarayanan Sesha, this is Ankit Sharma bidding adieu. Take care and goodbye for now!

What could have been a one sided affair has turned out to be one of the most enthralling run chases these teams will ever be a part of. Asad Vala was dismissed early, in the first over and things looked to slide down from there. Losing your captain early is never a good thing and PNG needed something special to battle it out. 

Tony Ura took it upon himself to carry the team along, and keep them in the hunt. He played a heroic 69 off just 43 delivers consisting of three boundaries and four maximums, but he too eventually succumbed under pressure. Charles Amini looked promising by his side initially, but after stitching 69 runs with Ura, Amini was undone by Shikongo and PNG hit a brick wall again. 

While Ura on one side kept the pressure on the bowlers, the other side seemed vulnerable and fragile. Sese Bau accompanied Tony for a while, but failed to hold fort for long as he was dismissed in the 12th over, followed by Ura in the very next over. PNG seemed in deep trouble then, with two new batters out in the middle and still over 60 runs needed. 

Norman Vanua was in the limelight, knowing the damage he can do and the potential he possesses. PNG would have hoped he can take them through with a flamboyant effort, but it was not meant to be. Vanua was dismissed soon after Tony Ura and PNG were pushed further down in a hole. 

Simon Atai and Kiplin Dorga were the two men out in the middle, with PNG still 53 away with 5 overs to go. The required run rate was roughly around 10, and the pressure was on the batters. Namibia surely wouldn’t give the game away from there. Boundaries dried up after Ura’s dismissal and hope started fading away from the PNG contingent. 

The Namibian bowlers did well to restrict the runs at the death. They were expensive at one point but they fought back and did a fine job to turn the game back in their favor. They showed character without a doubt and gave it their everything. But at the same time, so did the PNG batters. Atai was trying his best and picking up an odd boundary, fighting a lost battle one would say, but the game isn’t over until it’s over. 

PNG took it down to the last over, but they needed 19 off the final one. Had Tony Ura or  Norman Vanua been there, Namibia could have been in trouble, but at the end it was indeed too much to ask from Simon Atai, that too against Jan Frylinck, who has been one of the best bowlers this tournament. The inevitable did happen at the end with Namibia defending their target of 175, but credits to the PNG batters in making a game out of this one. 

Both these teams need to be proud of their efforts in the past week, for coming out and performing so well ahead of the World Cup. They’ll be up again tougher opponents in slightly different conditions, but they won’t be going in without match practice. Both the teams posses a lot of potential and it won’t be surprising to see them give the likes of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh a run for their money. Still a little work needs to be done on their combinations and strategies but surely with a week to go, they’ll have executed them much better by then!

Namibia win by 14 runs! Some incredible death bowling from Namibia takes PNG out of the game and takes the African nation to victory at the end. 

19.6 Jan Frylinck to Simon Atai, very full and nearly into the blockhole on middle and leg, Atai sits on one knee and gets a bit of bat on his paddle around the corner as the innings ends with a single towards deep fine leg. What a masterclass in death bowling this has been from Namibia as PNG fall well short of the target! Namibia win by 14 runs!

19.5 Jan Frylinck to Kipling Doriga, OUT! FRYLINCK HAS HIS FIRST! Slower delivery that lands into a full length outside the leg-stump, Doriga steps out of his crease and skies it high off his swing across the line before the fielder runs to his right from short extra cover to complete the easiest of catches.

19.4 Jan Frylinck to Simon Atai, THAT SHOULD BE THAT! Fired right into the blockhole on the leg-stump, Atai clears his front leg to whip it over mid-wicket but all he can manage is a leading edge towards backward point as he runs a single.

The Namibians have turned this one around! They've strangled PNG completely. Fantastic death bowling with a beautiful mix of variations right at the death.

19.3 Jan Frylinck to Kipling Doriga, AND AGAIN! Digs it short on middle and leg as he takes pace off, Doriga once again fails to get bat on his attempted hack across the line but the ball dips on the keeper and deceives him to allow the batters to sneak in a bye.

19.2 Jan Frylinck to Kipling Doriga, DECEPTION! Back of a length slower delivery that lands just outside off, Doriga shapes for a hoick across the line but he fails to get bat on ball.

19.1 Jan Frylinck to Simon Atai, GREAT ADJUSTMENT FROM THE BOWLER! Sees the batter shuffling in advance for a scoop and digs it short as he takes pace off. All Atai can do is lap it over towards short 45 for a solitary run.

And that's the end of a brilliant spell from Smit! He may just have won his team the match with both bat and ball. Plenty to do for PNG now. It's not over though. 19 to win off 6 and those numbers bring a certain Carlos Brathwaite to mind. Surely not going to happen though?

18.6 JJ Smit to Kipling Doriga, SWING AND A MISS! Full in length and well outside off, Doriga throws his bat at it from his crease but is deceived by the slower one as it keeps low to beat him to the keeper. Outstanding stuff from Smit!

18.5 JJ Smit to Simon Atai, EXCELLENT RIPOSTE! Fires a yorker right into the boots as he follows the batter, Atai fails to jam his bat down on time before Doriga pulls him through for a leg bye as the ball dribbles to the right of the keeper.

18.4 JJ Smit to Simon Atai, FOUR! IMPROV FROM ATAI! Stands deep in his crease and anticipates the full one on off before shuffling across and falling over as he scoops it over the vacant spaces along fine leg. A boundary at last for PNG!