With a devastating performance, Namibia stunned Zimbabwe at the inaugural Twenty20 International held in Windhoek. The captain Craig Ervine and Nick Welch both went for ducks, leaving Zimbabwe in a vulnerable position at 2/2 and laying the groundwork for a disastrous batting opening stand. Zimbabwe was unable to recover from the blow, and 2/2 soon became 22/4.
After the bleeding was temporarily stopped by a 39-run partnership between Sikandar Raza and Wessly Madhavere, Namibia started to capture plenty of wickets once more. Raza led the squad in scoring with 39, but Luke Jongwe 22 helped the opposite team win 121/9, surpassing 100 points. The most remarkable bowler was Gerhard Erasmus, who finished with a stat line of 3/15.
Richard Ngarava gave Zimbabwe an early goal, but Nikolaas Davin’s scorching start gave Namibia a comfortable lead. Erasmus fell for eight, but Davin was unstoppable because he was practically a spectator in the powerplay, watching the ball get pushed around. The host side gained an early lead in the series and won the match with 38 balls remaining. In just 44 balls, he scored an undefeated 80.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 121/9 in 20 overs (Sikandar Raza 39; Gerhard Erasmus 3/15) lost to Namibia 122/3 in 13.4 overs (Nikolaas Davin 80*; Richard Ngarava 2/15) by7 wickets