Gaborone
Cricket Namibia’s A side recently returned home from a highly successful tour to Botswana.
They won their ODI encounter by 105 runs on day one. The victory was followed by a T20 win as well as another ODI success.
In the first 50 over match, Namibia won the toss and elected to bat first. A solid partnership between Helao ya France (54/101) and Zane Green (80/87) quickly piled the pressure on the hosts.
After Ya France was caught and Green stumped, Lohan Louwrens stepped up to the plate to add another fantastic 65 to Namibia’s scoreboard before he was caught. With the help of Malan Kruger (24/30) and Walter Fokkens (22/24), Namibia reached 263 runs in their innings.
Botswana, on the other hand, never really looked like they could seriously threaten their Namibian counterparts. Rashaad Mosweu was their best batsman with 41 off 63, but the rest of the batting never really lived up to expectations as the home side managed a mere 158 all out, crashing to a 105-run loss at the Botswana Cricket Oval.
The same day the two teams faced each other in a T20 match. This time Botswana won the toss and elected to bat first. Opening batsman Faizal Rana Rasheed was run out after only five balls with no runs to his name.
John Mokokwe quickly followed (6/8). The rest of the batting order fell at regular intervals, with John Mokokwe being Botswana’s only player to reach more than 10 runs (30).
Their innings was cut short after Botswana’s last wicket fell at just 15.4 overs. Colin Peak was the standout bowler, with his leg spin proving too good for the opposition, returning figures of 3 for 4 in just 1.4 overs.
Nian Grobler and Steven Berry launched Namibia’s innings with 22 runs off 14 balls.
After they were bowled and caught respectively, Jason Bandlow (12) and Niko Davin (26) continued the chase, which was completed by Colin Peak (2) and Bredell Wessels (4) to give Namibia a 6-wicket win.
Meanwhile, the U15’s also recorded some good results, with the youngsters led by an unstoppable Robby Kashimbulu, who helped the team win all their three games.
They started their campaign with a splendid 82 runs victory on the first day, scoring a massive 169 for 4 in their innings. Kashimbulu led the Namibian attack with 48 runs off 46 balls while Richard Stears, who was picked as player of the match, managed a good 42 not out.
Botswana on the other hand only achieved 87 in their 20 overs, losing 4 wickets in the process.
Thabiso Tumisang was their best batsman with 15 off 13 balls. Mauritius Ngupita (2-12) and Ben Shikongo (1-13) were Namibia’s top bowlers.
The following day Kashimbulu was the standout player for the guest side yet again, scoring 51 off 56 balls with Stears adding another 22 to give Namibia a final score of 151 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs.
This time around Botswana did improve, but they couldn’t seriously threaten another Namibian win when their score sheet showed 107 runs after their allotted 20 overs at the end of the day – giving Namibia a 44-run victory. Eric Wilson took four wickets for Namibia.
Not much changed in the two teams’ final encounter played in the 50 over format.
Botswana batted first but the eastern neighbours were eventually bowled out for a mere 109 after 26.5 overs.
The Namibian batting order stepped up to reach their target after just 22.1 overs. Thomas Valtyson 24*, Francois van der Westhuizen 21 (32) and an ever so confident bowler Wilson (4-8) ensured an emphatic win.
There was more celebration to come after the final game when Robby Kashimbulu was nominated as best player of the tournament as well as the best batsman. His team colleague Wilson was awarded as the best bowler with a total of 8 wickets.