In the first of the three T20I games in the series, Namibia’s Batsmen were able to pull off the staggering feat of defeating South Africa by 18 runs in the first encounter at their renowned Cricket Ground on Friday.
The game was won on the toss and it was soon evident to South Africa that their choice of captain, Bjorn Fortuin, was expensive as the Namibians’ openers, Louren Steenkamp and Jan Frylinck, launched an early attack.
In the first 10 overs the pair scored 84 runs to set up an optimum platform for Namibia to build a competitive total. Steenkamp hit 41 from a mere 29 balls – all of which were four and six – off before Fortuin put an end to the partnership.
Frylinck did the same and delivered a brilliant half-century as he reached his 60 off 38 balls in an innings. His knock had six fours and two sixes and was the mainstay at the top of Namibia’s bowling.
The left-hander then got 32 runs as captain Gerhard Erasmus added 19, before Dewald Brevis finally got rid of Frylinck in the 13th over.
Namibia faced a challenge to keep the momentum going in the second half. Regular wickets then slowed the game significantly but Alexander Busing-Volschenk and Ruben Trumpelmann scored 13 and 12 respectively as the hosts capped off their 20 overs with a 163 for 9.
South Africa looked as if they had the opportunity to chase the target but Namibia’s bowlers made a disciplined defence. There was a lot of pressure on the Proteas as Trumpelmann and JJ Smit took three wickets each.
The victory of 18 runs was a milestone in Namibian cricket history as the hosts started the tri-series with a commanding lead over one of the top teams in international cricket.
