Namibia beat Gauteng in SAA Cup

NAMIBIA staged a magnificent fightback to beat Gauteng by four wickets in their limited overs SAA Cup match on Sunday.

The previous day Gauteng comfortably beat Namibia by eight wickets in their SAA Challenge three-day match, but on Sunday, a great innings of 95 not out by Tatenda Taibu, coupled by some disciplined bowling, saw Namibia reaching the winning target with two overs to spare. Gauteng batted first and were soon in trouble when Stephen Cook was dismissed for 5 off Gerrie Snyman’s bowling.Jean Symes (26), William Motaung (47 off 55 balls) and Enoch Nkwe (50 off 48 balls) took Gauteng to 138/4 but after their dismissals Namibia kept up the pressure with some tight bowling and fine fielding.Except for Heinrich le Roux (22) and Shane Burger (21), their lower order went cheaply, with Dumisa Makalima scoring 1, Diaan van Wyk 10, Gerhard de Bruin 9 and Brian Mathebula a duck, as Gauteng was all out for 207.Namibia’s best bowlers were Kola Burger (2/50 off 7 overs), Deon Kotze (2/34 off 9 overs), Henno Prinsloo (2/12 off 4 overs), Gerrie Snyman (1/14 off 4 overs) and Nicolaas Scholz (1/21 off 8 overs).Great innings by Taibu Namibia’s innings started disastrously as JB Burger went out for a duck and Dawid Botha for 1, but Tatenda Taibu and Louis Burger then steadied the innings with a fine partnership of 136 runs for the third wicket.Burger was eventually out for 69 runs off 76 balls, and although Namibia lost a few more wickets, Taibu steered them towards the winning target.Kola Burger hit a six and was then out caught off his second ball, Deon Kotze scored 5, and Gerry Snyman 7, before Bjorn Kotze joined Taibu to take Namibia to the winning target with two overs to spare.Bjorn Kotze was not out on 13, while Taibu was not out on 95.It was a great innings by the former Zimbabwean captain, which included 8 fours and one 6 and came off 130 balls.Gauteng’s wicket takers were Gerhard de Bruin (2/40 off 8 overs), Johnson Mafa (1/17 off 5), Jean Symes (1/40 off 8) and Brian Mathebula (2/30 off 6).www.namibiasport.com.naGauteng batted first and were soon in trouble when Stephen Cook was dismissed for 5 off Gerrie Snyman’s bowling.Jean Symes (26), William Motaung (47 off 55 balls) and Enoch Nkwe (50 off 48 balls) took Gauteng to 138/4 but after their dismissals Namibia kept up the pressure with some tight bowling and fine fielding.Except for Heinrich le Roux (22) and Shane Burger (21), their lower order went cheaply, with Dumisa Makalima scoring 1, Diaan van Wyk 10, Gerhard de Bruin 9 and Brian Mathebula a duck, as Gauteng was all out for 207.Namibia’s best bowlers were Kola Burger (2/50 off 7 overs), Deon Kotze (2/34 off 9 overs), Henno Prinsloo (2/12 off 4 overs), Gerrie Snyman (1/14 off 4 overs) and Nicolaas Scholz (1/21 off 8 overs).Great innings by Taibu Namibia’s innings started disastrously as JB Burger went out for a duck and Dawid Botha for 1, but Tatenda Taibu and Louis Burger then steadied the innings with a fine partnership of 136 runs for the third wicket.Burger was eventually out for 69 runs off 76 balls, and although Namibia lost a few more wickets, Taibu steered them towards the winning target.Kola Burger hit a six and was then out caught off his second ball, Deon Kotze scored 5, and Gerry Snyman 7, before Bjorn Kotze joined Taibu to take Namibia to the winning target with two overs to spare.Bjorn Kotze was not out on 13, while Taibu was not out on 95.It was a great innings by the former Zimbabwean captain, which included 8 fours and one 6 and came off 130 balls.Gauteng’s wicket takers were Gerhard de Bruin (2/40 off 8 overs), Johnson Mafa (1/17 off 5), Jean Symes (1/40 off 8) and Brian Mathebula (2/30 off 6).www.namibiasport.com.na