Maqonda Ndlovu
Namibia opened the 2024 T20 Cricket World Cup Africa qualifier with a convincing seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe on Wednesday at the Wanderers Cricket Club.
The hosts won the toss and elected to field first, restricting Zimbabwe to 132 runs for the loss of eight wickets (132/8) in their 20 overs.
Craig Ervine top-scored for Zimbabwe with 36 runs off 33 balls, as the visitors found themselves 18 for 3 at one point.
Ervine and captain Sikandar Raza then added 55 runs for the fourth wicket, but two successive wickets saw them fall to 99 for 6 in the 15th over.
Namibia’s vice captain JJ Smit took three wickets for 24 runs in four overs, while fellow simmers Tangeni Lungameni supported him with two wickets for 21 runs in three overs.
Namibia’s opening pair of Michael van Lingen and Nikolaas Davin started explosively, sharing an opening stand of 88 runs in just 48 balls.
Davin went on to score 89 off 45 balls as the Eagles cruised to a seven-wicket victory with 33 balls to spare.
Van Lingen scored 30 runs from 20 balls, while captain Gerhard Erasmus scored five from 15 not out, and Smit chipped in with six runs to seal a well-deserved victory.
Meanwhile, EspnCricInfo says Zimbabwe head coach Dave Houghton slammed his side’s loss against Namibia in their opening game of the Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier, calling it “embarrassingly bad” and “one of the worst games” he has been associated with.
“It’s a terrible start to this tournament, but we do know we’ve got to win the next five games and still qualify,” Houghton said.
“That’s important for us, but not my best day and certainly not my happiest day. In fact, I feel like we should be all out here, apologising to our fans.”
The other teams in the qualifier are Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.
Zimbabwe was back in action against Tanzania and seemed destined for victory after restricting Tanzania to 96 runs all out.
They needed 97 from 20 overs to claim victory and get back to winning ways.
Namibia plays Uganda today at the same venue.