Maqonda Ndlovu

The Namibian national cricket team, the Richelieu Eagles, beat Nepal by 20 runs in the first T20 International (T20I) match of the seven-game series yesterday, with No. 5 batsman Nicol Loftie-Eton setting a new world record for the fastest 100 runs in a T20I game from 33 balls.

Loftie-Eaton arrived on the crease when the Eagles were battling at 62/3 in the 11th over, and smashed 11 fours and eight sixes. In the process, he broke Nepal’s Kushal Malla, who hit 100 off 34 balls versus Mongolia last year.

His bat and ball performance (two wickets for 29 runs) earned him the Man of the Match and Best Shot of the Day awards.

Namibia went on to score 206/4 in their 20 overs before restricting Nepal to 186 all-out in 18.5 overs.

Loftie-Eaton’s performance with the bat was supported by Malan Kruger, who hit 59 from 48 balls, while Michael van Lingen contributed 20 from 19 balls.

Nepal never got going, as Namibian bowlers tore through their batting lineup, with captain Rohit Puadel hitting 42 from 24, and Dipendra Singh hitting 48 runs from 32 balls.

Pace bowler Ruben Trumpelmann took four wickets for 29 runs in 3.5 overs, while Loftie-Eton and Jan Frylinck both took two wickets.

Speaking after the match, Loftie-Eton said the team did not change their one-day international game plan as they focused more on skills and execution.

“We played with more intensity and aggression. It is never nice to reach individual milestones and lose the game. The most important thing was to win the match. I am pleased with what we managed to do as a team. I didn’t think about it at that stage. I initially got it wrong; I thought it was from 29 balls, but knowing after the game that it was a world record was special. For the last few months, I have been working very hard on my game. It has been going on for a few months. It is special to finally reap the rewards,” he said.

Namibia will play against the Netherlands tomorrow. – jrnmarko@gmail.com