Namibia kick-started their preparations towards ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifiers in UAE by hosting Botswana for a 4-match T20I series at home, which was the first ever bi-lateral T20I series hosted by Cricket Namibia. The home side domimated the series throughout and won it comfortably by a 4-0 margin, but for both the camps, it was a good series to provide match-time and exposure to their players.
Both the countries had met each other during the African sub-regional and regional finals qualifiers, with Botswana causing a surprise upset during the sub-regional tournament in Botswana.
Namibia tinkered with their playing XI and batting/bowling combinations in the four matches, while Botswana tried new players as well during the series. Apart from the T20I series, both countries also played two 50-overs fixtures, which is intended to provide Namibia match practice in the longer format of white-ball cricket, before they travel to USA to take part in round 2 of ICC CWC League 2 tournament.
Brief Scores
01st T20I: Namibia 193/4 in 20 overs (Craig Williams 68 n.o, Stephan Baard 60, Nikolaas Davin 39, Zane Green 18 n.o, Dhruv Maisuria 3/23) beat Botswana 100/7 in 20 overs (Valentine Mbazo 27, Ameer Saiyed 22, Gerhard Erasmus 2/16, Tangeni Lungameni 2/16, Pikky ya France 1/3, Zhivago Groenewald 1/14) by 93 runs
02nd T20I: Namibia 240/3 in 20 overs (Jean-Pierre Kotze 101 n.o, Gerhard Erasmus 56, Nikolaas Davin 54, Dhruv Maisuria 1/30, Adithiya Rangaswamy 1/5) beat Botswana 116/2 in 20 overs (Karabo Motlhanka 59, Hemal Pragji 30 n.o, Ben Shikongo 1/20, Pikky ya France 1/25) by 124 runs
03rd T20I: Namibia 174/8 in 20 overs (Stephan Baard 92, Gerhard Erasmus 24, Dhruv Maisuria 4/28, Mmoloki Mooketsi 2/31) beat Botswana 96 all out in 18.1 overs (Tharindu Perera 24, Reginald Nehonde 17, Craig Williams 3/9, Gerhard Erasmus 3/12, Bernard Scholtz 2/31, Jan Frylinck 1/10) by 78 runs
04th T20I: Botswana 85/8 in 20 overs (Tharindu Perera 30, Phamelo Silas 20, Ben Shikongo 2/4, Gerhard Erasmus 2/9, Jan Frylinck 1/17, Zhivago Groenewald 1/18) lost to Namibia 86/2 in 11.1 overs (Gerhard Erasmus 46 n.o, Lohan Louwrens 17 n.o, Mmoloki Mooketsi 1/22, Boemo Khumalo 1/23) by 8 wickets
50-overs: Botswana 92 all out in 35.1 overs (Reginald Nehonde 41, Ameer Saiyed 32, Tangeni Lungameni 3/11, Karl Birkenstock 3/16, Jan Frylinck 2/8, Zhivago Groenewald 1/3) lost to Namibia 93/3 in 21.2 overs (Stephan Baard 34, Gerhard Erasmus 25 n.o, Karl Birkenstock 20, Mmoloki Mooketsi 2/16, Ameer Saiyed 1/3) by 7 wickets
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