THE Namibian Eagles wrapped up their T20 series with a third consecutive win against Emerging Zimbabwe on Monday, but for once, they were pushed all the way.
Whereas Namibia easily won the first two matches by seven wickets and 132-runs respectively, they were made to work hard before securing a three-wicket victory with nine balls remaining on Monday.
Zimbabwe got off to a poor start as Namibian pace bowler Ruben Trumpelmann bowled Chamu Chibhabha for a duck and dismissed Brian Chari for one, with only two runs on the board.
When Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus struck with two wickets in three balls, dismissing Richmond Mutumbani (4) and Kevin Kasuza (15), Zimbabwe were struggling at 21/4.
A middle order revival, led by Roy Kaia (11), Mathew Welch (34 off 21 balls, 4×6), Brian Bennett (29) and Carl Mumba (12) however saw them recovering, before they were all out for 129 runs off 19,3 overs.
Ruben Trumpelmann was Namibia’s most successful bowler, taking three wickets for 18 runs off four overs, while Gerhard Erasmus took 2/3 off one over.
Namibia suffered an early setback in their run chase when Craig Williams was caught behind for a second-ball duck, and when Nicol Loftie-Eaton was dismissed for four, they had slumped to 5/2.
Michael van Lingen (16) and Gerhard Erasmus (22) revived their fortunes, but Zimbabwe’s bowlers kept them in the hunt, and when Jan Frylinck was dismissed for 10, Namibia were struggling at 66/6 with eight overs remaining.
Namibia’s lower order however came to the rescue as Karl Birkenstock and Pikky Ya France put on 45 runs for the eighth wicket, before Birkenstock was out for 29 off 20 balls (3×4).
Ya France remained not out on 20 off 13 balls (1×6, 1×4) and Shaun Fouche not out on 10 as Namibia reached 132/7 with nine balls remaining.
Emerging Zimbabwe’s most successful bowlers were Tanaka Chivanga (2/16), Brian Bennett (2/17) and Carl Mumba (2/26).
The scorecard:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/zimbabwe-emerging-players-tour-of-namibia-2021-1272893/zimbabwe-emerging-players-vs-namibia-eagles-3rd-unofficial-t20i-1272913/full-scorecard
