Maqonda Ndlovu
The Eagles continued their good form against Uganda following a five-wicket victory at the ongoing Twenty-20 (T20) series at the United Cricket Grounds on Saturday.
For the third match in a row, Uganda won the toss, but this time around, they chose to bat.
This was the Eagles’ third consecutive victory of the four-match series, following their 26 and 73-run victories in the past two matches.
The visitors put up a competitive score of 203 runs for the loss of six wickets (203/6) in their allocated 20 overs.
Man of the Match Dinesh Nakrani of Uganda top-scored for the visitors with 110 runs from 45 balls.
He also took three wickets while conceding 26 runs in the four overs he bowled.
He smashed 13 sixes and four fours at a strike rate of 244.44, while Robinson Obuya contributed 27 runs and Ronald Lutaaya scored 25 runs.
In response, Namibia scored 204/5 from 19.5 overs to win the match by five wickets.
Namibia’s run chase did not start well, with openers Michael Van Lingen and Niko Davin registering eight and two runs, respectively, before newly promoted number three captain Merwe Gerhard Erasmus smashed 80 runs from 40 balls (eight fours and six sixes) at a strike rate of 200.
He was helped by Jan Frylinck, who notched 93 runs off 48 balls, scoring four fours and eight sixes.
Vice captain JJ Smit and Zane Green also contributed eight runs each while scoring one not-out for the Eagles.
Ruben Trumpelmann was the pick of the bowlers for Namibia, as he claimed three wickets for 53 runs in his four overs.
Picky Ya, France, Frylinck, and Ben Shikongo each contributed a wicket apiece.
Captain Erasmus said the mood was high in the camp.
“Another win under the belt, a full day of cricket with all the 40 overs played. We were tested with both bat and ball,” he said.
His Ugandan counterpart, Brian Mark Masaba, said they lost the match by conceding too many boundaries after scoring 203 runs in their innings.
“We did not bring two of our strike ballers, and we were always going to struggle at the death; hence, we conceded so many runs in the last few overs. We will not change too much, and we will give it a go again,” he said.
Namibia and Uganda met yesterday in the final match of the T20 series before the two teams clash in three fifty-over matches next week.