The Namibian Eagles cruised into the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier in Harare, Zimbabwe, after two huge victories over the weekend.
On Friday they thrashed Kenya by 136 runs and followed that up with another commanding 117-run victory against Nigeria yesterday.
That put Namibia on top of their group and with one group match remaining against Malawi tomorrow, they have now already qualified for the semi-finals.
Coach Craig Williams says their plans are going according to track.
“It was a good victory for us against Nigeria. It’s nice that Jan (Frylinck) got a century and also Louren (Steenkamp) got a nice 50. I think it’s going well with us and it’s also good that different players have done well in the different matches. I’m happy with that for the squad,” he says.
“Now we just have to reset and then it’s a big last push against Malawi on Tuesday and then we’ll be in the semi-finals. Everyone is in good spirits, so thanks for the support from back home,” he adds.
Yesterday Jan Frylinck continued his great batting form of late when he smashed a century to lead Namibia to a huge win against Nigeria.
He brought up his century in style off 51 balls with a big six, and went on to score 134 off only 65 balls, which included 15 fours and six sixes.
Frylinck received good support from Louren Steenkamp who scored 51 from 27 balls, while they shared a 132-run partnership for the second wicket off only 65 runs.
Opening batter Malan Kruger scored 11, while Nicol Loftie-Eaton added 10 and Zane Green 15 not out down the order as Namibia reached a massive 235/6 off their 20 overs.
Nigeria never got close as they were restricted to 118/9 off their 20 overs.
Opener Sulaimon Runsewe was the top scorer with 28 runs, while Loftie-Eaton with three wickets for 24 runs, Bernard Scholtz (2/22) and Jan Izak de Villiers (2/19) were Namibia’s best bowlers.
On Friday, JJ Smit stole the limelight with a great century against Kenya.
His 100 came up off only 37 balls, while he then smashed the next two for a four and a six to finish on 111 not out off 39 balls, including 14 fours and seven sixes.
Gerhard Erasmus scored 58 off 32 balls (5×4, 3×6), while Frylinck added 33 as Namibia reached a huge total of 241/5.
In reply, Kenya were restricted to 105/7 with Sukhdeep Singh scoring 34, while Namibia’s best bowlers were Alex Volschenk (2/11) and Scholtz (2/23).
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