High-Flying Eagles Take On Wounded Zimbabwe

Namibia’s FNB Eagles face Zimbabwe in their second FNB T20 Tri-Series match, carrying the confidence of consecutive wins over South Africa.

Namibia opened the series with an 18-run victory against the Proteas. South Africa responded by beating Zimbabwe by seven wickets, leaving the Proteas at the top of the standings on net run rate, ahead of Namibia. Zimbabwe sits last with no points and needs a win to stay in contention for the final.

In Namibia’s victory over South Africa, openers Jan Frylinck and Louren Steenkamp built an 84-run partnership. Steenkamp made 41 before Bjorn Fortuin bowled him, while Frylinck followed with 60 from 38 balls, including six fours and two sixes. Namibia finished on 163 for nine.

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This is very important, it shows we belong or that the last win was not a one-off. We showed we can be consistent and compete with the best. Our batters did well in the powerplay, and credit to our bowlers for holding their own as Brevis held it together for them. When everyone chips in with their roles, we are a tough team to beat. There’s still three games to go, and our aim is to get in to and win the final.

South Africa fell to 39 for three after seven overs, but Dewald Brevis mounted a counterattack with 75 from 50 balls. His dismissal ended the recovery, and Namibia restricted the Proteas to 145 for nine. Ruben Trumpelmann took three wickets for 24 runs, while JJ Smit claimed three for 31 and earned player-of-the-match honors after conceding only nine runs and taking two wickets in the final over.

Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus said, “This is very important, it shows we belong or that the last win was not a one-off. We showed we can be consistent and compete with the best.” He added that the team had three games remaining and wanted to reach and win the final. Smit described beating South Africa again as “a surreal feeling” and a proud moment.

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Feels surreal, I can’t believe we beat SA again, it’s a proud moment.