Namibia Beat South Africa In T20I Match For Historic Win On Home Turf

Namibia Beat South Africa In T20I Match For Historic Win On Home Turf

Namibia came up with a breathtaking performance to stun South Africa by four wickets in a last-ball T20I thriller, notching a historic maiden win against the ICC full member at Windhoek, Namibia on Saturday. Playing their first international match on home turf, at the Namibia Cricket Ground, they restricted the Proteas to 134 for eight. The hosts then earned a hard-fought victory on the last ball of their innings, which was followed by a lap of honour. Namibia, an ICC Association member, had never played an international match against South Africa in any format prior to this T20I.

But, after their dream of owning a cricketing facility in their home country came true earlier on Saturday, they found added motivation to beat a second-string Proteas side led by Donovan Ferreira.

The main South African side, led by Aiden Markram, is currently in Pakistan for a two-Test series, which will be followed by six white-ball games.

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South Africa were reduced to 68/5 despite the presence of stalwarts like Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks in the top order. Jason Smith, playing in only his second T20I, gave some respectability to the SA total with a 31-ball 30.

Namibia’s 27-year-old left-arm pacer Ruben Trumpelmann returned excellent figures of 3 for 28.

In reply, Namibia’s top order crumbled with the home side being reduced to 66 for 4. However, their veteran wicketkeeper-batter Zane Edward Green, playing his 72nd T20I, came up with an unbeaten 30 off 23 balls, while Ruben Trumpelmann scored 11 off 8 deliveries to take the home side to 138/6 on the last ball of the innings.

Earlier, Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus was overjoyed at playing an international match on home soil for the first time, saying it felt like a “new dawn and new age for the sport” in his country. PTI