Windhoek, September 1: Zimbabwe secured a thrilling victory against Namibia by 5 runs in the third match of the T20 Tri-Series 2026 held on Monday. Brad Evans was named ‘Player of the Match’ for his outstanding all-round performance.
Namibia had stunned everyone by defeating South Africa by 18 runs in the series opener, but faced their first loss in this match. Zimbabwe, after losing to South Africa by 7 wickets in their first game, finally opened their account in the series.
Batting first after losing the toss at the Namibia Cricket Ground, Zimbabwe scored 195 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their 20 overs. Brian Bennett and Ben Curran put together an impressive opening partnership, accumulating 64 runs off 36 balls. Bennett returned to the pavilion after scoring 32 runs off 21 balls, hitting 6 fours, leading to a sudden collapse where the team lost 5 wickets for just 79 runs in 9.4 overs.
From this point, Ryan Burl and Tadiwanashe Marumani added 22 runs for the sixth wicket. Marumani scored 18 runs off 11 balls, including a six and a four. Burl then partnered with Brad Evans to add 94 runs off 48 balls for the seventh wicket, putting Zimbabwe in a strong position.
Burl scored 57 runs off 32 balls, hitting 1 six and 7 fours, while Evans remained unbeaten with 37 runs off 25 balls, including 2 sixes and 2 fours. For Namibia, captain Gerhard Erasmus took 3 wickets for 46 runs, while Bernard Scholtz, JJ Smit, and Max Heyingo each claimed 1 wicket.
In response, Namibia was bowled out for 190 runs on the last ball of the 20th over. They lost 2 wickets for just 28 runs, but Nicol Loftie-Eaton and Jan Freilink managed to build a partnership of 32 runs for the third wicket, bringing the score to 60. However, after this partnership broke, wickets fell rapidly, and Namibia lost their sixth wicket at 76 runs in just 11.1 overs.
Alexander Wolshenk and Jan Green then added 109 runs for the seventh wicket off 49 balls, bringing Namibia close to victory. However, Zimbabwe turned the game around in the final over.
Needing 16 runs to win in the last over, Brad Evans was given the ball. The first delivery was a no-ball, allowing Alexander to take a double. The next ball was a free hit, but Alexander could only manage 2 runs.
On the second official delivery, Alexander attempted a single but Jan Green (54) was run out. Alexander then hit a four off the third ball.
With 6 runs needed from the last 3 balls, Alexander (56) was caught out on the fourth ball, followed by Bernard Scholtz being run out on the next delivery. On the final ball, Evans bowled Jack Brassel, sealing Zimbabwe’s victory.
For Zimbabwe, Brad Evans took 3 wickets for 41 runs, while Brian Bennett claimed 2 wickets. Blessing Muzarabani, Sikandar Raza, and Wellington Masakadza each took 1 wicket.
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