A Namibian Select u17 cricket team thrashed Botswana u17 by 302 runs at the United field on Tuesday after a batting masterclass by captain Lohan Louwrens and Nicole Loftie Eaton.
They both scored centuries as Namibia posted a huge total of 451 runs, before restricting Botswana to 149 all out.
Shaun Fouche (36) and Albert van der Merwe (38) got Namibia off to a good start, putting on 70 for the first wicket, and when Van der Merwe was out, Namibia were well set at 127 for two wickets off only 16 overs.
Louwrens and Loftie Eaton took centre stage and continued to pile on the runs in a brilliant partnership of 190 runs off only 126 balls to put Namibia firmly in the driving seat.
Loftie Eaton was eventually out for 121 off only 96 balls, which included 10 fours and five sixes, while Louwrens was even more impressive, scoring 164 off only 95 balls, which included 17 fours and seven sixes.
Towards the end of Namibia’s innings, Keanu Engelbrecht added 15 runs and Petrus Burger a rapid 44 off 12 balls (5×4, 3×6) as Namibia reached a huge total of 451 for five wickets off their 50 overs.
Botswana’s batsmen were under pressure from the start against some accurate bowling by Namibia and the visitors regularly lost wickets and never got going.
Ruan de Wet was their top batsman, scoring 36 runs off 59 balls, while Steven Delport, Mauritius Nangupita and Ben Shikongo each took two wickets for Namibia.
It was the second match in the Momentum Oupanga Cup series between Botswana u17 and the Namibian u17 High Performance squad, which has
been divided into a Namibian Select and a Namibian Invitation side.
In the first match on Monday, the Namibian Invitation side was pushed all the way before beating Botswana by one run, but on Tuesday the Namibian Select side showed that it is the strongest side in the competition.
The Select side included Lohan Louwrens and Petrus Burger who starred for Namibia at the u19 Junior World Cup in Bangladesh in February this year, as well as up and coming players like Shaun Fouche, Albert van der Merwe, Keanu Engelbrecht, Ben Shikongo and Nicole Loftie-Eaton, who is still only 15 years old.
The tournament continues on Wednesday with two T20 matches at the United field. Namibia Select take on Botswana in the morning and Namibia Invitation take on Botswana in the afternoon.
