Zimbabwe survive Namibia fightback in Windhoek thriller
Zimbabwe held their nerve to seal a dramatic five-run win after Namibia fell agonisingly short chasing 196 in the T20I tri-series.
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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