Riding on Wesley Madhevere’s all-round show, Zimbabwe thrashed Namibia by seven wickets to qualify for plate semi-final. In an all African contest, Zimbabwe bowled out Namibia for just 113 before chasing down the total in 20 overs.
Namibia, who had defeated South Africa in the last edition of the tournament, never looked in contention to win the game right from the time they decided to bat first till Zimbabwe chased down the score. On the very second ball of the match, Jurgen Linde was dismissed by Kieran Robinson for a duck. From thereon, they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals with a 28-run stand for the seventh wicket being their highest.
Eben van Wyk top-scored for the side, scoring 24 while Nkosilathi Nungu, Dion Myers, Madhevere took wickets apiece.
In reply, Zimbabwe chased down the total in the 20th over. Like Namibia, Zimbabwe were also off to a poor start, losing their opener Gregory Dollar for a duck and Dion Meyer departing for just 2. However, a 172-run stand between Madhevere and Alistair Frost all but sealed the game for Zimbabwe.
The partnership was broken when Madhevere was dismissed for 47 before an unbeaten 36-run stand between Frost and Tinashe Nenhunzi took the team home.
