Ireland knocked out of T20 World Cup as Namibia reach main draw for first time

Ireland’s hopes of reaching the main draw of the T20 World Cup came to an end as they succumbed to an eight-wicket defeat to Namibia in their final group match.

The teams went into their meeting on Friday having both earned victories over the Netherlands and lost to Sri Lanka, making the clash effectively a winner-takes-all affair in a bid to advance to the Super 12 stage and it was Nambia who prevailed to qualify for the tournament proper for the very first time.

Ireland got off to a flyer after winning the toss and electing to bat as they reached the end of the powerplay on 55 without loss, but faltered badly after star man Paul Stirling was dismissed for 38 off 24 balls, fading to 125-8 from their 20 overs.

Nambia chased their target of 126 with nine balls to spare, thanks in large part to an unbeaten half-century from captain Gerhard Erasmus.

Nambia’s group for the main draw will only be confirmed following Sri Lanka’s clash with Netherlands later on Friday, but they look likely to join New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Scotland, who qualified on Thursday after topping Group B.

Sri Lanka are already through and will top Group A if they avoid a heavy defeat to the Dutch. Presuming that is the case, they will join fellow qualifier Bangladesh in a Super 12 group alongside England, Australia, West Indies and South Africa.

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