Africa-Press – Namibia. The Namibian Eagles got off to a losing start in their T20 series against Zimbabwe after going down by 33 runs in their first match at Bulawayo yesterday.
After being sent in to bat, Zimbabwe’s batters piled on the runs as they reached a huge 211 for three wickets off their 20 overs.
Namibia briefly managed to match the run rate but when they lost two wickets in quick succession their challenge faded as they were restricted to 178/7, still 33 runs short of the target.
Zimbabwe openers Brian Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani gave the home side a great start with a century partnership for the first wicket. They raced to 100 off 11,5 overs, and when Marumani was the first to go, dismissed for 62 off Alex Volschenk’s bowling, the total stood at 124 off 14,1 overs.
Bennett was dismissed for a top score of 94 off 51 balls (8×4, 4×6), while Ryan Burl added a rapid 22 off nine balls and Sikandar Raza 23 not out off 11 as they set Namibia a huge victory target.
In reply, Namibia lost Malan Kruger early on for 13, but Nicol Loftie-Eaton joined Jan Frylinck to revive Namibia’s hopes with a swashbuckling innings.
Namibia, however, suffered a double blow when they were both dismissed within six balls, with Frylinck out for 21, and Loftie-Eaton for 38 off 24 balls (8×4), with the total at 74/3.
Gerhard Erasmus and Zane Green gave Namibia hope with a 44-run partnership but they could not maintain the required run rate as Zimbabwe’s bowlers tightened their grip with regular wickets.
Erasmus was dismissed for 26, Green for 33, and Ruben Trumpelmann for 20, while Dylan Leicher remained 11 not out as they fell 33 runs short of the target.
Despite the defeat, Namibia’s top order batters, and especially Loftie-Eaton took on Zimbabwe’s bowlers, although Namibia’s bowlers all suffered against Zimbabwe’s batters.
The second T20 starts at 13h30 today and the third at the same time on Thursday.
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