Namibia 163 for 9 (Frylinck 60, Steenkamp 41, Subrayen 3-32) beat South Africa 145 for 9 (Brevis 75, Trumpelmann 3-24, Smit 3-31) by 18 runs

South Africa will play Zimbabwe on Saturday as they look to put their first points on the board.

Frylinck gets a second chance and grabs it with both hands

Namibia opted for experience at the top with Frylinck and Louren Steenkamp, and they took the fight to their neighbours early on. Frylinck hit back-to-back boundaries off the last two balls of Duan Jansen’s opening over and one off the next ball he faced from Nqobani Mokoena to get the home side going. But his fun should have ended there, on 13. In the third over, the bat turned in his hand as he tried to hit Jansen over extra cover but did not get enough distance on it. Jordan Hermann had his eye on the ball but a team-mate in his peripheral vision blindsided him and the ball bobbled out of his grasp. Frylinck did not need a second invitation. He reached his fifty with a straight six off Dewald Brevis and topped up with one more before he was caught at deep mid-wicket for 60.

South Africa strike back

Frylinck’s dismissal opened the door for South Africa and their spinners burst through it. Prenelan Subrayen took over from Brevis, tossed one up and invited Jan-Nicol Loftie-Eaton to slog-sweep. The big-hitter obliged in intent but made no contact and was caught behind. In the next over, Fortuin had the better of his opposite number when Gerhard Erasmus swept him straight to deep backward square. Fortuin finished with 2 for 17 in his four overs. Subrayen then returned for his final over and started with a double strike. He beat Zane Green on the reverse sweep to get him out lbw and then took out JJ Smit’s middle stump with a yorker. Subrayen’s analysis read: 4-0-32-3. Namibia went from 116 for 1 to 133 for 5 and lost four wickets for 17 runs in 22 balls, which included a sequence of 10 dots.

Namibia’s young ‘uns ask South Africa tough questions

Erasmus bowled the opening over, as he often does, and tasked his senior seamer Trumpelmann with the second but then handed over to the next generation to see what they could do against some of the opposition’s best. Jack Brassell, who is 21, took over from Erasmus and immediately impressed with his pace and aggression. Two of his first three balls were short and he was rewarded when Jordan Hermann tried to hit him over extra cover but was caught by Trumpelmann to give Namibia an early breakthrough.

Trumpelmann had Lhuan-dre Pretorius caught on the pull, and Brassell kept pressure on with a second over that cost just six runs. He had 1 for 9 in his first two overs. South Africa ended the powerplay on 34 for 2 and as soon as it ended, Erasmus called on 18-year old Max Heingo. He was accurate from the get-go and when Tony de Zorzi tried to heave him across the line, he was bowled to leave South Africa 39 for 3. Heingo’s figures after his first two overs were 1 for 8.

Brevis keeps South Africa breathing

Brevis was kept relatively quiet on 19 off 20 balls at the start of the 10th over but with the required run-rate over 10 runs an over, he had to get going. And he did it in signature style. Brevis brought out the no-look six to begin an assault on Namibia’s leading T20I wicket-taker Bernard Scholtz, whose second over cost 18 runs. After Brevis lost the original ball somewhere in Friday afternoon traffic, he sent the replacement over deep mid-wicket for six and then tonked Scholtz straight down the ground for four. The required scoring rate was brought below 10. Brevis didn’t have it all his way as Rubin Hermann and Connor Esterhuizen both went cheaply but when he sensed an opportunity to take a bowler down, he did. Heingo was next in the firing line as he missed his yorker and was smashed for back-to-back sixes, the first of which brought up Brevis’ 50 off 39 balls. JJ Smit was next as Brevis sent him onto the grass banks and single-handedly dragged South Africa closer.

Namibia come up Trumps

Just as he thought he was getting them close enough, Brevis grew frustrated in a Trumpelmann over where only four runs were scored off the first five balls. The last delivery was a full toss and Brevis tried to drag it leg-side but outside edged to short third. Brassell was stationed in exactly the right spot and timed his jump well to end Brevis’ innings and South Africa’s hopes. They needed 31 runs off the last two overs, and 28 off the last one after Erasmus bowled a strangling penultimate over that cost three runs and dismissed Fortuin. That left Smit with plenty to defend and he did so in style, with two wickets in two balls to end the game.