Trumpelmann, Green star as Namibia beat South Africa in last-ball thriller

Led by Ruben Trumpelmann's all-round effort (3/28 & 8-ball 11) and Zane Green's composed 23-ball 30*, Namibia clinched a thrilling last-ball victory over South Africa in the only T20I in Windhoek, on Saturday. Chasing 135 for victory, Green swiped a low full toss off the last ball by Simelane to help Namibia to a four-wicket win. This was the second time South Africa lost to an Associate nation in T20Is, following their loss to the Netherlands at Adelaide in the 2022 World Cup

Electing to bat, South Africa lost Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks early in the innings. However, Lhua-dre Pretorius and Rubin Hermann steadied the innings on a surface where run-scoring wasn't easy. The duo added 30 runs before the latter was dismissed by Trumpelmann, courtesy a fine diving catch at deep square leg.

A couple of more strikes in quick succession reduced South Africa to 68 for 5 in the 11th over. Jason Smith combined with the lower order to give a push to the scoring rate, but boundaries were hard to come on a surface that offered a bit of grip and bounce. Moreover, the Namibians also maintained their discipline. Bjorn Fortuin and Gerald Coetzee chipped in with a handy contribution towards the end to help South Africa past the 130-run mark, but that didn't prove enough in the end.

The Namibian batters also struggled a bit to get going, but they were well aided by the erratic lines of the South African pacers, especially Gerald Coetzee, who left the field with some concerns after four balls into his second over. Even as Namibia's top-order batters struggled to score, by the time South Africa scalped their first three wickets, Namibia had 51 runs on the board in only seven overs.

Gerhard Erasmus, JJ Smit and Jason Kruger provided much needed solidity through the middle overs to ensure the advantage was never handed over to South Africa. However, with 28 runs needed in the last three overs, the task was still stiff for Namibia. Green and Trumpelmann struck a boundary each to bring the equation down to 11 runs off the final over.

However, Green pulled Simelane's first ball for a six in the last over to flip the momentum of the contest. Simelane kept it full for the next four balls to leave Namibia with a run off the final delivery. In trying to go for a yorker, the pacer missed his length and the low full toss was put away with ease for a boundary.

Brief Scores: South Africa 134/8 in 20 overs (Jason Smith 31, Rubin Hermann 23; Ruben Trumpelmann 3-23, Max Heingo 2-32) lost to Namibia 138/6 in 20 overs (Gerhard Erasmus 31, Zane Green 30*; Nandre Burger 2-21, Andile Simelane 2-28) by 4 wickets