THE Ireland Wolves suffered a two-run defeat to Namibia A in the opening T20 match of their Namibian tour at the Wanderers field on Monday.
Ireland A were skittled out for only 90 runs, but Namibia A were also in trouble at 41 for four wickets after seven overs, when the players left the field due to lightning, and after the Duckworth Lewis system was applied, Namibia narrowly won the match.
The Namibian A team was captained by JJ Smit and included some national players like Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Karl Birkenstock, Pikky Ya France and Ben Shikongo, as well as some upcoming youngsters like Jan Balt, Shaun Fouche, Dylan Leicher and Mauritius Ngupita, who all made their T20 debuts for Namibia.
After being sent in to bat, Ireland A were immediately in trouble when Shikongo dismissed Jeremy Lawlor for a duck in the first over, and from then on the wickets fell regularly.
Murray Commins with 29 and Curtis Campher with 22 were the only Irish batsmen to reach double figures as Namibia’s bowlers ripped through the batting order.
For Namibia A, Shikongo took 3/14 off 3,5 overs, Ya France 3/12 off four overs, and Loftie-Eaton 2/22 off three overs.
It didn’t seem much of a total, but Namibia were also soon in trouble against some inspired Irish bowling.
Jan Balt and Loftie-Eaton were both dismissed for ducks and when Lohan Louwrens was dismissed for 6, they had three wickets down with only eight runs on the board.
Shaun Fouche and Karl Birkenstock revived the innings with a 26-run partnership, before Fouche was dismissed for 12, and when lightning brought an end to play, Birkenstock was 16 not out and JJ Smit 4 not out with the total at 41/4 off seven overs.
It was still anyone’s game but Namibia were adjudged the winners when the DL system was applied.
For Ireland A, Peter Chase took 2/2 off two overs, Graham Hume 1/18 off two, and Curtis Campher 1/7 off two overs.
The scorecard:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/ireland-a-in-namibia-2021-22-1306701/namibia-a-vs-ireland-a-1st-match-1306705/full-scorecard
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