Ms Mia Mottley wins acclaim for leadership in climate action; Namibia beats Oman

ICC Men’s T20 WC is on .. are you watching matches ! – some at odd times !  - today morning it was the 3^rd match – Group B at Bridgetown. 

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus presented  Award for Global Health to the Prime Minister of Barbados and two scientists for their contributions to advancing global health at the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly.  The Director-General’s Award for Global Health, established in 2019, goes to Her Excellency, Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, for her leadership in climate action and health and her work as the Chair of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley is the Eighth Prime Minister of Barbados. She became the first woman to occupy the high office in 2018, with the largest majority in the history of the country. PM Mottley was re-elected in 2022, winning all 30 seats in the House of Assembly a second time.  PM Mottley is also Chair of the World Health Organization’s Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance. She has received multiple accolades for her strong voice in favor of sustainable policies in the context of climate change and other global challenges. Professors Karikó and Weissman were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023. Their discovery “fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system,” the Nobel prize panel wrote.

 Barbados  is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is 34 kilometres (21 mi) in length and as much as 23 kilometres (14 mi) in width, amounting to 431 square kilometres (166 sq mi). It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic.  Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt.  Barbados was once a Spanish and Portuguese possession till it became a British colony.  Barbados has produced many great cricketers including Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Clyde Walcott, Sir Everton Weekes, Sir Gordon Greenidge, Sir Wes Hall, Sir Charlie Griffith, Joel Garner, Desmond Haynes and Malcolm Marshall.  Its ground is -  Kensington Oval.

It was a low scoring match today.  Namibia's modest chase was built around Jan Frylinck to take the equation to 18 runs needed off the last three overs. Mehran Khan started the 18th over with four byes, but then had JJ Smit caught at long-on before bowling three dots on the trot to Wiese.  West Indies  had found themselves in a similar position in the 2^nd game but  the experience of Chase and Russell took them through.  

In last 12 deliveries Namibia only needed 14 with 6 wickets in hand. David Wiese who had just come in had not opened his account and Frylinck was on 43 off 44 balls. Left-arm swing bowler Bilal Khan who was born in Peshawar, Pakistan was the bowler.  18.1 dot ball, next a single; 3^rd went over the short boundary for a 6 hit by Wiese.   4^th again a dot ball; 18.5 & 18.6 both yielded a single run.   So when 37 year old Mehran Khan started his final over, he had just 5 to defend.   He got Frylinck, played on off the first; in walked Zane Green, the wicket keeper who perhaps heard some one say that he is Viv Richards.  The very first ball he faced, he makde room to hoist but missed the ball completely and next tried a scoop, missed and was given out LBW, the ball would have missed middle of middle stump by a mm or so.  Malan Kruger walked in took a single; 5^th ball with 4 needed, Wiese’s straight drive found the stumps at bowler end, ricochetted getting a couple.  Last ball just 2 required – Wiese missed cut, keeper Naseem Kushi could not collect cleanly due to extra bounce – balls was closer, yet  Wiese and Kruger run across, the keeper tries a reverse throw missed and that single run made it to Super over.   

In the Super over, Namibia made 21 while Oman could muster only 10.

Have heard this name earlier, yes, David Wiese played for South Africa and at 31   he signed a three-year deal with Sussex, joining his compatriot Stiaan van Zyl. Wiese had not played international cricket since March 2016, and turned down a call-up for a home T20I series against Sri Lanka in making his decision to go Kolpak. Five years later he became eligible to play for Namibia based on ancestry, his father had been born there. He made his debut in the opening round of the T20 World Cup and helped his new team qualify for the Super 12s, winning two Player-of-the-Match awards on the way.   He went to the World T20 in 2016 but after failing to cement a spot, took the Kolpak route to county cricket.  

Today the Scorecard reads :  Namibia 109 for 6 (Frylinck 45, Mehran 3-7) tied with Oman 109 (Kail 34, Trumpelmann 4-21, Wiese 3-28);Super Over Namibia 21 beat Oman 10

A search shows that he played the 42^nd match of T20 WC in 2021 against India at Dubai, which India  won by 9 wickets with 28 balls to go.  In IPL he played for RCB and later for  KKR in 2023.  

With regards – S Sampathkumar
3.6.2024