The Richelieu Namibian Eagles finally broke their losing streak in the Cricket World Cup League 2 series with a dramatic 12-run victory against Canada at the Wanderers field on Saturday.
Going into the match Namibia had lost twice to the Netherlands and once to Canada in their tri-nations series but they finally turned their fortunes around with a stunning comeback victory.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Namibia’s batters once again failed to post a big total as they were all out for a modest 186.
JP Kotze led the way with 48, while Nicol Loftie-Eaton added 47 not out, and Niko Davin 33, but they received little support as the only other batters to reach double figures were Gerhard Erasmus (17) and Malan Kruger (10).
Kaleem Sana (4/33) and Shahid Ahmadzai (4/34) were Canada’s best bowlers.
In reply, Canada got off to a great start and seemed to be cruising to victory when their openers Yuvraj Samra and Navneet Dhaliwal put on 79 for the opening wicket
Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus, however, dismissed Dhaliwal for 25 and Samra for 53 to start a dramatic slide and when Canada slumped to 103/5 Namibia were right back in the game.
After a rain interruption Canada’s winning target was set at 167 off 43 overs, but Namibia maintained the pressure with regular wickets.
With two overs to go the momentum had shifted to Namibia, with Canada needing 16 runs for victory, and Tangeni Lungameni sealed a dramatic win when he wrapped up the innings with two wickets in three balls in the next over.
Lungameni finished with 2/25 but it was Erasmus who won the man of the match award after a brilliant spell of 4/24 off nine overs.
The victory put Namibia fifth on the log on 14 points from 20 matches, but they are still some way off the leaders, who all have matches in hand.
The United States top the log on 22 points from 16 games, followed by The Netherland and Canada on 20 points from 16 games each, and Oman on 18 points from 16 matches.
Namibia and Canada will now be involved in a five-match International T20 series at the FNB Namibia Cricket Ground starting tomorrow.
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