Group A of the “first-round” of the T20 World Cup came to a thrilling climax today in Geelong as the Netherlands qualified despite their defeat against Sri Lanka after the UAE beat Namibia.

For me, it was the expressions on the faces of two former South African internationals that summed up what qualifying for the Super 12s means for these teams.

In the first game, it was the expression of pain etched on to the face of Roelof van der Merwe as he came out to bat at number 11 barely even able to walk. He even tried to run two at one point to get Max O’Dowd back on strike, and then ran a bye to the keeper even though his team needed no-balls or wides to be able to win.

In the second it was the tears on the face of David Wiese, a man who has played in and won high profile franchise tournaments all over the world, as he sat on the bench after holing out to long-on towards the end of the Namibian run chase after he almost sculpted a sensational run chase after his team looked to have bottled it.

Players like these, who previously played for full members, are often unfairly portrayed as mercenaries. Taking advantage of their heritage to get a second shot at international cricket and taking the place of the cliched plucky amateur associate cricketer taking a break from working as a postman, plumber or plasterer to mix it with the big guns.

But yet here they were, emotion writ large on their faces. You could see what it meant to them. The agony of van der Merwe turned to joy after the second game, but it brought the tears to Wiese. Tragedy and triumph. Great drama. Great cricket.

I almost hate to say it was a great advert for associate cricket. Associate teams are always expected to be a great advert for associate cricket. Nobody ever says that it’s a bad advert for full member cricket when a full member plays badly. And yet here I am - this was a great advert for associate cricket.

As for the play on the field?

Sri Lanka scored 162-6 from their 20 overs, largely thanks to an at times brutal 79 from 44 balls by Kusal Mendis. At one point in the Dutch reply, they collapsed from 100-4 to 109-8 in the space of 22 balls. Max O’Dowd tried his best with an unbeaten 71 from 53 balls but nobody was able to stay with him.

The Dutch finished with 146-9, a 16 run defeat. They knew that their net run rate was such that only a UAE win over Namibia in the second game would see them reach the Super 12.

The UAE had only scored 184 combined in their previous two games and Namibia kicked off the World Cup by thumping Sri Lanka, so the Dutch would have been fearing the worst.

But the UAE, who hadn’t won a World Cup game in any format since 1996, finally came good. Muhammad Waseem top scored with 50 whilst skipper CP Rizwan clubbed 43 from 29 balls. He was outdone in the final three overs by Basil Hameed who scored 25 from 14 balls as the pair put on 35 to take the UAE to 148-3.

When Namibia collapsed to 69-7, the Dutch were smiling again. But their expressions began to change as Wiese used all his experience to almost sculpt one of thre great T20 run chases. Credit also goes to Ruben Trumpelmann, playing his first game of the tournament after a hamstring injury kept him out of the first two games, who scored 25 from 24 balls.

Wiese brought up his 50 from 31 balls on the last ball of the 18th over and Namibia needed 20 runs. On came Zahoor Khan, who promptly sent his first delivery wide. But he held his nerve, conceding only five more runs from the over.

Muhammad Waseem was given the ball for the final over with Namibia needing 14. Wiese scored two, then a single, before Trumpelmann got him back on strike. Ten needed from three. Wiese went for the big shot over long-on but was caught by Alishan Sharafu just inside the rope. Two more singles and Namibia had lost by seven runs. The Dutch had qualified.

It was a sensational finish to a great day of cricket. Scotland, Zimbabwe, Ireland and the West Indies have a hell of an act to follow when they play in Hobart tomorrow.