Big-hitting fish-farmer Louis van der Westhuizen hit a century as Namibia trounced Scotland in the World Twenty20 qualifiers on Wednesday to rack up a second win in two matches.
Nepal’s wrist-spinner Shakti Gauchan grabbed a share of the headlines with a hat-trick in his team’s win over Denmark, while defending champions Afghanistan also celebrated a second win in the 16-nation tournament.
Van der Westhuizen, 23, hit an unbeaten 54-ball 106 (eight fours, eight sixes) against Scotland as Namibia claimed a 49-run win.
His knock helped Namibia put on 192-3 in their 20 overs, while Scotland ended up at 143-8.
“I really feel that I am seeing the ball well and hitting it with confidence,” van der Westhuizen said.
“The confidence of the side is high and we have a really good team spirit, which means I feel like I have the freedom to play. We had two big games up first [Ireland and Scotland] and to win those were our first goals, and from now on it is game by game for us,” he added.
Gauchan claimed a hat-trick in a spell of four for 20 to lead Nepal to a crushing nine-wicket victory over Denmark.
Gauchan claimed the wickets of Rizwan Mahmood, Aftab Ahmed and Kamran Mahmood in the 13th over to record the first hat-trick of the ongoing tournament.
“I have taken one hat-trick in domestic cricket before, but this is my first international hat-trick,” he said.
“It was a very good time to take a hat-trick in a match for me. When I took my hat-trick, I ran away from the wicket and slid on my chest like a football player,” Gauchan added.
Afghanistan beat the Netherlands by four wickets after a fine half-century by Mohammad Shahzad, Canada registered a seven-wicket win over Papua New Guinea, Uganda scripted a second hard-fought win when they defeated Oman, and Hong Kong surprised Bermuda by eight wickets.
“We had a clear plan when we out for the chase. I think it worked out well, because I had to do the hitting,” said Afghanistan’s man of the match Shahzad, who hit 54.
“Others, like Nawroz Mangal and Mohammad Nabi, batted around me. I think 150 was a good score to chase, since this effort will come in handy during the later stages of the tournament,” he said.
Ireland registered a comprehensive 10-wicket win over Ken-ya, while Italy scored a narrow eight-run success over the US.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later