As the third match of the final day took place, this ended up being the match with the largest differential, as both sides looked completely different in skill level. Seeing that Namibia won by more than 7 wickets, it was clear that they had their A-game rolling and continued having their way in all three parts of this match.
Showing real danger in their batting, bowling, and fielding abilities, they are starting to seem like a squad that has become nearly unbeatable in these African Qualifiers, as their side is en route to make a 4th straight World Cup. Captain Gerhard Erasmus showed his great experience in leading this side and understanding what it takes to completely control what an opponent does.
Meanwhile, Malawi are now taken out of the tournament and will have a lot more work to do in order to compete against teams like these. As they have slowly been rising up the rankings and becoming a better team over the last couple years, this side showed some prowess in their match against Kenya, but didn’t seem that ready for this matchup.
A group that is going to try making a run to improve their standing in the playoffs, they will need boosted confidence, as this was not a great performance that will give them that. Captain Mozzam Baig will have to become more consistent in leading them and showing why he has that ability of elevating any players, like he has in the past year in Malawi’s rise.
Malawi: One Of The Less Successful First Innings Seen In Recent Memory
Talking about Malawi, this side was completely outclassed during their first innings and looked very lost throughout this period. With opener Aaftab Limdawala creating an early 15-run partnership with Sami Sohail, he was removed for 4 runs of 6 balls after not hitting a single boundary.
Struggling to get anything going, Sohail was the next one to depart for 11 as he was batting at a strike rate around 70 in the powerplay and only hit one four to show for it. Seeing Saleem Nihute was removed on a clean duck, wickets started falling pretty fast at this time, which caused the collapse of Malawi. Losing captain Mozzam Baig for 6 on just 7 balls, he was the fourth piece to go at 28/4.
Seeing that Muhammad Kazim Somani also got taken out for no runs, and a similar result occurred with Mike Choamba, it really put Malawi at a dangerous score of 28/6. Then came the big partnership between Gift Kansonkho and Bright Balala after Malawi were at 35/8, where the two took them up to 70/8.
Seeing that Kansonkho was their only bright spot in batting today, he scored 31 runs of the same number of deliveries, while hitting two boundaries and helping them get somewhere respectable. With Balala playing more of a defensive game to support his partner, when they both were removed, Malawi were all out for 71 runs.
Namibia: Bowlers Showed Their Real Promise Throughout These Innings
As Namibia were able to show how many bowling options they had today, it made a huge difference since they took some big wickets and absolutely controlled Malawi’s batting attack. On what was supposed to be a good surface for batting, Ben Shikongo did a fantastic job in his three overs, as the right-handed pacer was able to take a wicket and also allowed just 14 runs in his three overs.
With JJ Smit showing why he can continue being one of the top all-rounders, his bowling was on point once again, since he took three wickets and allowed just 10 during the overs. Someone whose becoming another key threat for them, he created a nice combination with Ruben Trumpelmann, who also picked up a wicket in this match.
The real story of today, though, was Nicol Loftie-Eaton, as he really punished Malawi’s batting attack and picked up four wickets during his full quota of overs. Having just an economy of 2.50, it was really bright since he kept hitting the same line and length, which helped him get a hat-trick in this match to really change the way this match was going.
Looking at Jack Brassell, who also bowled a fantastic over just allowing 5, Jannik De Villiers got a few chances at showing his potential too, while also picking up a wicket. Closing it out, captain Gerhard Erasmus picked up the final wicket and helped Namibia chase down a very easy score of 88.
Namibia: Batsmen Made This Run Chase Look Very Simple And Controlled It
Namibia’s batters were really on point when chasing down this score, as they looked unstoppable from their powerplay overs. Opener Malan Kruger really showed what he was made off once again after scoring 28 off 11 balls and building a nice 36-run partnership to start of these innings.
Having hit 5 boundaries with four wonderful strokes and a massive maximum, he really understood the importance of attacking bowlers with urgency to continue building their run-rate. Seeing that he was the first wicket to go, Louren Steenkamp also hit a wonderful boundary before getting clean-bowled. Although it caused some type of tension at 51/2, Namibia were almost home with big-time batsmen still to come.
Seeing that opener Jan Frylinck was still there to make an impact, his innings ended with 22 runs on just 18 balls, while hitting a couple boundaries. Having a solid strike rate once again, he understood what it took to create a quick cameo and really stick in there despite a few big pieces going around him.
As Nicol Loftie-Eaton was able to create a solid 20+ run-partnership with him, this piece also produced a lot on the batting end. Scoring 14 runs on just 10 deliveries, he was able to smack one six, while also hitting a solid four, which got Namibia across the line and helped them pick up their third straight victory in this tournament, backed by strong batting performances.
Malawi: Few Bowling Options Couldn’t Make Much Of This Match
Looking at Malawi’s bowlers, they weren’t able to make a difference since they only had a few runs to work with and looked completely out-handled. Captain Mozzam Baig had a very rough day at the office after bowling less than 3 overs and allowing 27 of them. With Daniel Jakiel having a really good over in the middle, he was one of their bright spots since he only gave up three at that moment.
Seeing Sami Sohail get all four overs in this match, he couldn’t make much of a difference since his economy was well above 10 runs per over. Knowing that he was a major cause for giving up runs early, his two wickets didn’t make much impact since the defending total was so low.
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