Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Connor Esterhuizen led the way with the bat, as the Proteas finally registered a first win against Namibia today in Windhoek.
SA had lost the two previous encounters, and the third time was the charm. Pretorius notched up a timely first T20I ton, and Esterhuizen brought up his personal-best score of 88. Both players hit 8 sixes apiece, as all the Namibian bowlers could only watch the ball get struck to all areas.
However, the hosts managed to pull things back a little towards the end. After the 156-run opening stand was broken, Dewald Brevis fell cheaply, and Rubin Hermann scored 26 from 22. The platform was set, but things didn’t quite get going at the death. Regardless, the South Africans had 228 on the board at halftime. Offspinner Jan Balt was the MVP for Namibia, as his economical 2/31 prevented a late surge.
However, the reintroduction of Andile Simelane – who was playing his first game of the tri-series – finally got the Proteas an opening. Frylinck went for another pull shot, but holed out to deep square leg.
From then on, Kwena Magala and Bjorn Fortuin were able to quiet down the run rate. Namibia weren’t able to get boundaries as often as they did in the first half, and the pressure was showing. Steenkamp retired hurt after the 16th over, and skipper Gerhard Erasmus wasn’t able to get going at all in his stay.
Nqobani Mokoena returned to dismiss JJ Smit, and rounded off the innings with another wicket to secure a victory by 11 runs.
This means the Proteas will face Zimbabwe on Sunday, and it should be a captivating contest. While Zimbabwe have struggled from time to time, the T20 format always has room for surprises, as we’ve seen over the years.
Stay tuned for the final in Windhoek.
SA 228/4 in 20 overs (Pretorius 101, Esterhuizen 88 – Balt 4-0-31-2)
NAM 217/3 in 20 overs (Frylinck 72, Steenkamp 61 – Mokoena 4-0-43-2)
