Sri Lanka and Netherlands have qualified for the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup, with Namibia’s hopes scuppered by a thrilling defeat to the United Arab Emirates.
Sri Lanka, champions of this competition in 2012, secured a spot in round two with a 16-run victory over Netherlands and as winners of Group A will now enter Group 1 of the Super 12s, a pool featuring England, Australia, New Zealand, Afghanistan and one other qualifier.
Netherlands faced an anxious wait to see whether they would advance, knowing that a win for Namibia over UAE would dump them down into third spot on net run rate.
However, Namibia slipped to a dramatic seven-run defeat to UAE, tumbling to 69-7 inside 13 overs in pursuit of 149 before being rallied by an eighth-wicket stand of 70 from 44 balls between David Wiese (55 off 36) and Ruben Trumpelmann (25no off 24) and then ending short on 141-8.
Namibia’s hopes of making the Super 12s for the second straight year were dashed, UAE celebrated their maiden victory at a T20 World Cup, and Netherlands progression into the main stage was confirmed.
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