Despite losing a thriller by five runs to Zimbabwe on Monday, Namibia still have all to play for in the FNB T20 Triseries.
Monday’s result left the series wide open, with the three competing nations on two points each, with a win and a loss apiece, and South Africa topping the log on nett run rate, followed by Namibia and Zimbabwe.
After Namibia started the series with a sensational 18-run win against South Africa last Friday, they nearly made it two wins in a row against Zimbabwe in another cracking match that went down to the wire.
After being sent in to bat, Zimbabwe got off to a quick start with Ben Curran and Brian Bennett sharing a 64-run opening stand at more than 10 an over.
JJ Smit got the breakthrough, dismissing Bennett for 32, and when Max Heingo dismissed Curran for 38, it started a slump as Zimbabwe lost five wickets for only 15 runs to crash to 79/5.
Tadiwanashe Marumani initiated their comeback with 18 runs, but it was Ryan Burl and Brad Evans who put Zimbabwe in charge with a 94-run seventh wicket partnership off only 48 balls.
At that stage it was a new T20I world record seventh wicket partnership, but it would not last long in an extraordinary match.
Burl remained not out on 57 off 32 balls (7×4, 1×6) and Evans not out on 37 off 24 (2×4, 2×6) as Zimbabwe recovered to post a sizeable 195/6.
Gerhard Erasmus was Namibia’s best bowler, taking three wickets for 46 runs, while Bernard Scholtz, Smit and Heingo took one each.
In reply, Namibia were soon under pressure when Louren Steenkamp was dismissed for six runs and Zimbabwe gained further momentum with regular wickets.
Erasmus (12), Nicol Loftie-Eaton (20), Smit (6), Jan Frylinck (22), and Ruben Trumpelmann (8) all went cheaply as Namibia crashed to 76/6.
It seemed that a Zimbabwean win was a mere formality, but Zane Green and Alexander Volschenk started a brilliant comeback to revive Namibia’s hopes.
Both batters took the Zimbabwean bowling on from the outset with Green racing to his 50 off 25 balls while Volschenk reached his half century off 26, and with one over remaining Namibia were right back in the hunt, needing 16 runs for victory.
In a dramatic final over by Evans, however, Green was run out off a direct hit for 54, Volschenk was out for 56 to a one-handed diving catch by wicket keeper Marumani, while Scholtz (0) and Jack Brassell (0) were dismissed off successive balls as Namibia were all out for 190 – still five runs short of the target.
Evans won the man of the match award, but there were more records as Green and Volschenk set a new T20I record seventh wicket partnership of 110 runs.
‘NEARLY PULLED OFF SOMETHING SPECIAL’
While Namibia’s top and middle order did not come off, Volschenk and Green showed they have a long batting lineup, and Erasmus paid tribute to their exceptional effort after the match.
“Those two guys got us close in the end. At the 14-over mark, we thought we were out of the game but they nearly pulled off something special.
“This is a good six-hitting ground and the Zimbabwe batters also showed that. It was a good deck, but lots of positives for us to take out.
“Some special spells. Heingo comes to mind, and then at the back end, those two players. Those are the kind of innings that can take you far in an international career,” he said.
Green, meanwhile, congratulated Volschenk on a great effort.
“T20 cricket is such a short game, and I knew if we can get a bit of momentum we could take it further because the game can change in three balls or one over.
“I have to take my hat off for Alex. He came out with intent, and provided the momentum shift that we needed. He started brilliantly, he brought everything and was on song, while I was just feeding off him,” he said.
“We unfortunately didn’t get a good start, so we had to work a bit harder in the middle to the final overs, but we were always confident that we could chase down the score.
“We lost wickets regularly which made it difficult, but the belief was always there, because we know that 180 is a par score at the Namibia Cricket Ground – the ball travels and it’s easy to hit boundaries at the back end,” he said.
Burl said they expected a tough battle from Namibia.
“The Namibian team has always been big fighters. I don’t know what it is about them, but we always have close games, so after our defeat to South Africa, we went back to the drawing board and prepared well for them,” he said.
“We should have finished the game off long before the final over, but Namibians are fighters and credit to those batters – they batted well and took it very deep, and then that last over was not good for the blood pressure.
“A lot of things were happening – a great direct hit from the boundary, a spectacular catch by the keeper, and a couple of great yorkers from Brad, so obviously we are very happy to win the match, but we have to be more clinical in certain areas,” he said.
