Namibia pulled off a major upset as they beat South Africa by 18 runs in the opening match of the T20I tri series in Windhoek on Friday.
The 17th ranked Namibia scored 163 for nine after South Africa chose to bowl first. The hosts then restricted South Africa to 145 for nine to seal a memorable win.
Jan Frylinck led Namibia with the bat. Ruben Trumpelmann and JJ Smit then took three wickets each to stop South Africa’s chase.
Namibia lost an early wicket but recovered through Louren Steenkamp and Frylinck.
Steenkamp played an attacking innings at the top. He scored 41 from 29 balls with three fours and two sixes.
Frylinck then took charge of the innings. The experienced all rounder struck 60 from only 38 balls. His innings included six fours and two sixes.
South Africa fought back with wickets towards the end of the innings.
Prenelan Subrayen took three wickets for 32 runs, while Duan Jansen claimed two for 32. Bjorn Fortuin also picked up two wickets and gave away only 17 runs in his four overs.
Namibia still managed to reach 163 for nine from their 20 overs.
South Africa needed 164 to win but struggled from the start of their chase.
Trumpelmann caused most of the early damage. The left arm pacer took three wickets for 24 runs from his four overs.
Smit also made an important impact with the ball. He finished with three wickets for 31 runs as South Africa kept losing wickets.
Dewald Brevis gave the visitors some hope with an attacking half century.
Brevis scored 75 from 50 balls. He hit four fours and five sixes during his fighting innings.
However, he received little support from the other batters. Jansen scored 25, but no other South African batter reached double figures.
Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus also played his part with the ball. He conceded only seven runs from his two overs and picked up one wicket.
South Africa eventually finished on 145 for nine from their 20 overs.
The result gave Namibia an 18 run victory and a perfect start to their tri series campaign on home soil.
