Namibia beat South Africa by four wickets in historic first meeting

Namibia completed a historic four-wicket T20 win over neighbours South Africa in the first meeting between the two sides.

In a one-off 20-over match to mark the opening of the new Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek, Gerhard Erasmus’ side needed 11 runs off the final over to chase 135.

Zane Green, who top-scored with an unbeaten 30 off 23 balls, struck Andile Simelane’s first delivery for six before running four off the next three balls alongside Ruben Trumpelmann to level the scores.

A dot ball took the match down to the final delivery, which Green hit over mid-wicket for four to secure a memorable win for the Associate nation.

South Africa were fielding something of a makeshift side with a number of key players in Pakistan for an upcoming Test series, but did welcome back wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock for his first international appearance since June 2024.

However, his comeback lasted just four balls as he was caught by Trumpelmann off Erasmus for one in the opening over.

Wickets fell at regular intervals as the Proteas were reduced to 82-6 in the 13th over, including a middle-order collapse where they lost three wickets for 13 runs.

However, Jason Smith, top-scoring with 31 (30), held the innings together with the lower order before Gerald Coetzee’s late flourish pushed them to 134-8.

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