Zimbabwe held off a stunning fightback from Namibia to win the third match of the T20I tri-series by five runs at the Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek on Monday. Namibia fell agonisingly short while chasing 196, finishing on 190 despite a record-breaking 110-run stand for the seventh wicket.
Green and Busing-Volschenk take Namibia to the brink
Namibia looked out of the contest at 76 for 6 before Zane Green and Alexander Busing-Volschenk turned the match on its head. The pair added 110 runs together, and both batters brought up half-centuries as they pushed their side within one shot of a famous win.
Busing-Volschenk, only 21, took the attack to Zimbabwe’s bowlers from the moment he walked in, hitting Wellington Masakadza for consecutive sixes and later depositing Sikandar Raza onto the grass banks beyond the boundary.
Green played the anchor role early, reaching 22 off 16 balls before accelerating hard in the closing overs. He struck 17 runs off Newman Nyamhuri’s 18th over and then took 15 more off Blessing Muzarabani’s 19th, bringing up his own fifty in the process and leaving Namibia needing just 16 runs from the final six balls.
Zimbabwe recover from early collapse through Burl and Evans
Zimbabwe’s innings followed a similar arc in reverse. Brian Bennett and Ben Curran put on 64 for the first wicket, but the innings then fell apart quickly, as Zimbabwe slipped from 64 without loss to 79 for 5 inside a handful of overs.
Ryan Burl and Brad Evans steadied the innings with an unbroken 94-run partnership for the seventh wicket, a new record for their country. Burl struck seven fours and a six on his way to an unbeaten 57, while Evans finished on 37 not out.
The final over produced 20 runs, as Burl hit Gerhard Erasmus for six over long-on and followed it with three more boundaries, lifting Zimbabwe from 175 to a competitive 195 for 6.
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Evans seals the win with a hat-trick in the final over
Evans, who also picked up three wickets with the ball, finished the match in dramatic fashion. Zimbabwe needed to defend 16 runs in the last over, and Evans began with a no-ball that briefly extended Namibia’s hopes.
Busing-Volschenk brought up his half-century off the first legal delivery and later struck Evans down the ground for four, leaving Namibia needing six runs from three balls. What followed changed the course of the match.
Wicketkeeper Tadiwanashe Marumani dived to his right and took a one-handed catch to remove Busing-Volschenk for 56. Bernard Scholtz was then run out at the non-striker’s end, and Evans bowled Jack Brassell with the final delivery to complete a hat-trick and hand Zimbabwe the win.
Green was run out for 54 while pushing for a second run, caught by a direct hit from Sikandar Raza, just before the final-over collapse began. Evans was named Player of the Match for his all-round contribution with bat and ball.
The result puts Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa level on two points each after the opening round of matches in the tri-series. Namibia will have less than a day to regroup before facing South Africa on Tuesday.
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