The FNB Namibia Eagles continued their fine form ahead of the T20 World Cup with a six-run victory against Scotland in a warm-up match in Bengaluru today.
In a great display of power hitting, Namibia posted an imposing 226 for four wickets, before limiting Scotland to 220/5 in an exciting finish.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Namibia got off to a great start as Jan Frylinck and Louren Steenkamp posted a rapid century partnership.
They attacked Scotland’s bowlers from the start, racing to 50 runs in only the fourth over, while Frylinck brought up his 50 three overs later off just 23 balls.
They continued to set the pace, bringing up the 100 in the ninth over, before Frylinck was the first to go, two overs later for 88 off 44 balls (13×4, 3×6) with the total at 137.
Steenkamp followed soon after for 51 off 24 balls (6×4, 2×6), while the rest of Namibia’s top order maintained the momentum, with JJ Smit scoring 22, Ruben Trumpelmann 25 and Gerhard Erasmus 33 not out, as Namibia set Scotland a daunting victory target.
In Scotland’s reply, Namibia got an early breakthrough when Max Heingo dismissed Michael Jones for six, but Mark Watt and Brendon McMullen put Scotland on track with a 92-run partnership.
Bernard Scholtz got the breakthrough, dismissing Watt for 33, while Erasmus got the important wicket of McMullen for 95 (off 39 balls, 6×4, 8×6).
Richie Berrington (46 off 26 balls) and Tom Bruce (20 off 14) maintained Scotland’s chase, but Namibia managed to restrict them to 220/5 to win a close match in the end.
Namibia coach Craig Williams said it was the match was a good exercise.
“It was a good game for us, it was close towards the end, when they needed 12 runs off the final over, but JJ Smit managed to close it down. It was a really good exercise for our team, to be able to play a strong Scotland team and to come off with a win, so a lot of lessons were learnt and things are going well with the boys,” he said.
“Our preparations have gone really well – we’ve got a training session tomorrow, and then we take on India A on Friday, so I think our campaign is on track and the vibe and the mental space in our group is very good.
We dont have any injuries or niggles and we feel we are really in a good space right now,” he added.
Namibia open their T20 World Cup campaign against The Netherlands in New Delhi on 10 February.
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