Zimbabwe survive Namibia fightback in Windhoek thriller

Zimbabwe held off a stunning Namibia fightback in a dramatic T20I contest in Windhoek to secure their first win of the tri-series. After both sides recovered from major batting collapses, Brad Evans held his nerve in a chaotic final over as Zimbabwe sealed a five-run victory.

WATCH THE TRI-SERIES LIVE ON ICC.TV IN SELECT REGIONS

Asked to bat first, Zimbabwe made a flying start through openers Ben Curran and Brian Bennett, who raced to a 50-run partnership in just 4.5 overs. The pair dominated the Powerplay, with Zimbabwe reaching 64 before Bennett fell for 32 from 21 balls on the final delivery of the sixth over.

Namibia quickly seized control as Bernard Scholtz removed Dion Myers before Gerhard Erasmus dismissed Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza off the first ball, with Jan Frylinck’s superb low catch completing the dismissal. Max Heingo then struck to remove the well-set Curran (38 off 22), as Zimbabwe slipped from 64 without loss to 76/4.

The collapse continued when Erasmus claimed another wicket, leaving Zimbabwe 79/5. But Ryan Burl and Brad Evans produced a remarkable recovery, adding 94 runs from just 48 balls.

Their stand was Zimbabwe's highest seventh-wicket partnership in T20Is, with Burl finishing unbeaten on 57 from 32 deliveries and Evans making 37. The pair lifted Zimbabwe from 101/6 at the end of 12 overs to 195/6 to finish the innings.

Erasmus was the pick of the Namibia bowlers with 3/46, while Heingo, Scholtz and JJ Smit claimed a wicket each.

ALL THE DETAILS ABOUT NAMIBIA, SOUTH AFRICA AND ZIMBABWE TRI-SERIES

Namibia’s chase got off to a more difficult start, with Blessing Muzarabani removing Louren Steenkamp (6) and Brian Bennett taking a stunning catch to dismiss Erasmus (12). They reached 34/2 at the end of the Powerplay before a promising partnership between Frylinck and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton began to rebuild the innings.

But Zimbabwe struck back again, with Wellington Masakadza removing Frylinck (22) before Bennet dismissed Smit (6) shortly afterwards. Namibia slipped further as wickets continued to fall, finding themselves 76/6.

Then came another remarkable recovery.

WATCH THE TRI-SERIES LIVE ON ICC.TV IN SELECT REGIONS

Zane Green and Alexander Volschenk launched a stunning counterattack, adding 110 runs from just 51 balls, the highest seventh-wicket partnership for Namibia in T20Is. Green made 54 (26) while Volschenk struck 56 from 29, as Namibia dragged themselves back into the contest.

With 11 needed from the final five balls, Namibia looked on the verge of completing an incredible comeback. But the momentum swung one final time.

Green was run out by a direct hit from Raza before Volschenk fell to a stunning one-handed catch from Tadiwanashe Marumani. Two more wickets followed in the final deliveries, which included another run-out, as Namibia fell agonisingly short by five runs.

Green admitted that his team fell short but heaped praise on Alexander Busing-Volschenk for showing great intent. 

"It's sport. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. When you cross that rope, you have to back yourself and the result would take care of itself.," Green said after the match. 

"I knew that if we could get some momentum, we could take it further because in T20s the game can change in three balls. I take my hat off to Alex because with the intent he came in, he was the momentum shift we needed. He was on it," he added.

The result keeps the tri-series wide open, with all three teams, including South Africa, sitting on one win and one defeat after two matches each.

Zimbabwe's Ryan Burl felt his team should have wrapped up the game earlier but also credited the opposition for fighting till the end. 

"I don't think walking away from this game, we are happy about the fact that this go till the last over. We should have finished that game long before," Burl said. 

"But Namibians are fighters and credit to those batters, they batted well and they obviously took it very deep. very happy with the fact that we have walked away with a win here but there will be conversations had in the back about how we can be a bit more clinical," he added.

Zimbabwe take on South Africa in their next match in the tri-series on Tuesday and Burl is wary of the Proteas' strengths especially after their loss against Namibia earlier in the tournament.

"Namibia has played Proteas twice and they have won twice. The quality and depth that the Proteas do have, I know they are going to come back with a bang," he said.

"But who knows? Everyone is still trying to adjust to the condition and everyone is just trying to put their hands up and contribute.

"It's just a matter of who can do it on the day. So, we will see what happens, we are going to take each day as it comes," he added. 

All teams are tied on two points each having played two games each and there's all to play for in the final round of group matches starting on Tuesday.

Broadcast details

Fans from around the world can tune in to watch all the matches of the momentous tri-series, including the final, which will be streaming live on ICC.tv. Fans can also catch the action via:

- OneAfrica TV: Namibia and Zimbabwe 
- SuperSport: All African territories, except Namibia and Zimbabwe
- FanCode: India
- Styx:  Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka 
- ICC.tv: Rest of world, including all African territories except Namibia and Zimbabwe