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Namibia qualify for ICC T20 World Cup
30 Nov, 2023
Namibia beat Tanzania to score their fifth successive win in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier 2023 and enter the quadrennial tournament next year
Host Namibia became the first African team to qualify for the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup after they registered their fifth win of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier 2023 to sit atop the points table. They are now the 19th team finalised for the 20-team event. They are also the eighth Associate nation, including USA as co-host, to make it to the quadrennial event.
Namibia defeated Tanzania by 58 runs in Windhoek a day after beating 2003 50-over World Cup semi-finalists Kenya by six wickets. That put them in pole position with 10 points from five matches.
Batting first, Namibia made 157/6 in 20 overs with JJ Smit scoring a 25-ball 40. Openers Michael van Lingen (30), Niko Davin (25) and skipper Gerhard Erasmus (21) provided the early fillip to Namibia.
In response, Tanzania were restricted to just 99/6 in 20 overs with only Amal Rajeevan making 41 off 45 balls. Erasmus picked 2/17.
Zimbabwe on the other hand stayed on contention by bouncing back with successive wins. Sikandar Raza with 58 off 36 balls and a spell of 3/3, which included a hat-trick helped script a 144-run win over Rwanda on Tuesday before the skipper starred again, scoring 65 off 37 balls (4x4s, 7x6s) and taking 2/13 to help beat Nigeria by six wickets.
Cricket, T20 World Cup, ICC, Namibia, Africa , African Cricket Association