NAMIBIA’s journey in the Africa T20 Cup came to an end on Sunday when Free State beat them by 10 wickets in the semifinals in Kimberley.
But although it ended in defeat, the journey was an exciting one, and marked the strides that Namibian cricket has made in recent years as well as the team’s commitment and pride in representing their country.
In fact, they had to undergo extreme lengths to make it to Kimberley in time, after beating the UAE in Windhoek the previous day. There were no connecting flights via Johannesburg so, two hours after beating the UAE, the team boarded a bus for a 15-hour overnight trip to Kimberley.
They arrived at 10h00 and then barely three hours later were back on the field taking on the Free State in their semifinal.
Namibia gave a fine performance, putting on 165 for three wickets, but Free State’s openers Karabo Mogotsi and Andries Gous put on a great batting display to reach the target with 15 balls to spare.
Sent in to bat, Namibia lost Stephen Baard early on for 4, but Lohan Louwrens and Jean Bredenkamp put them back on track with a 67-run partnership.
When Louwrens was dismissed for 39 which came off only 32 balls and included four fours and one six, Namibia were in a solid position at 71/2 halfway through their innings.
Craig Williams joined Bredenkamp and raised the tempo with a 64-run partnership at nine runs to the over.
Williams was also out for 39 off 28 balls (2×4, 1×6), but Bredenkamp remained not out on 71 off only 53 balls (5×4, 3×6) as Namibia reached 165/3 off their 20 overs.
It was a reasonable total to defend, but Namibia’s fatigue started to show, and their bowlers were attacked from the start by Gous and Mogotsi.
Gous started the onslaught when he hit 16 runs off one over by Jan Frylinck, while he brought up their century stand in the 12th over with a six off Bernard Scholtz.
Mogotsi also hit some boundaries, but Gous was the chief destroyer and went on to reach 101 not out off only 48 balls (4×4, 9×6) as Free State reached 166/0 with 15 balls to spare.
Free State’s winning streak, however, came to an end when KwaZulu Natal Inland beat them by four wickets in Monday’s final.
This time Gous was run out for a duck off the first ball of the innings, but Mogotsi went on to score 42 not out and Patrick Botha 38, as they reached 128/5 off their 20 overs.
KwaZulu Natal Inland, however, went on to win the title after reaching 129/4, with Kyle Nipper scoring 38 not out and Grant Roelofsen 33.
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