Namibia won the Africa T20 Qualifying tournament in Johannesburg after beating Kenya by 30 runs on Tuesday.
The result saw Namibia finishing on top of the log on eight points from five matches, just ahead of Kenya, who also finished on eight points, on nett run rate.
Namibia and Kenya have now qualified for the Pepsi ICC Global T20 Qualifiers to be held in Scotland and Ireland in July 2015, where they will face international teams such as Ireland, Scotland, Afghanistan and UAE.
The top teams at this tournament will qualify for the 2016 T20 World Cup which will be held in India in March and April 2016.
After easily winning their first three matches in Johannesburg against Tanzania, Ghana and Botswana, Namibia suffered a shock two-wicket defeat against Uganda on Monday.
With only the top two teams qualifying for the next round of qualifiers, this put Namibia’s place in jeopardy going into their last match against Kenya, with Uganda still in contention for a place.
Namibia however took matters into their own hands, beating Kenya handsomely, while Uganda fell out of contention after suffering a five-run defeat against Ghana.
In Tuesday’s match against Kenya, Namibia batted first and scored 166 runs for nine wickets in their 20 overs.
Namibia were soon in trouble, losing the wickets of Stephan Baard (5) and Gerrie Snyman (0) with only 15 runs on the board, but Gerhard Erasmus and Craig Williams rebuilt the innings with a 92-run partnership for the third wicket.
Erasmus was eventually dismissed for 41 runs off 27 balls, which included two sixes and five fours, while Williams top-scored with 61 runs off 48 balls, which included two sixes and four fours.
Further down the order, JJ Smit added 25 from 15 balls as Namibia reached 166 off their 20 overs.
In Kenya’s innings, Alex Obanda (2) and Narendra Patel (6) went cheaply, but Irfan Karim (34) and Collins Obuya (47) put them on track with a 58-run partnership.
Louis Klazinga however struck with three quick wickets to swing the match Namibia’s way.
He dismissed Shem Ngoche for 15 and Collins Obuya for 47 off successive balls and then an over later dismissed Nelson Odhiambo for 2 to leave Kenya reeling at 128 for seven wickets.
They could not recover and eventually only reached 136 runs for eight wickets off their 20 overs.
Klazinga was Namibia’s top bowler, taking three wickets for 23 runs, while Craig Williams took two wickets for 32 runs.
