Eagles coach Pierre de Bruyn says his team has a chance to continue writing history for themselves when they face Zimbabwe in the decisive fifth match of their series on Tuesday at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
Speaking from Bulawayo, De Bryn said his team will be hoping to carry the momentum they had to play for in the cricket series which has been a see-saw between the two teams.
“Tuesday is going to be all about nerves, who is going to handle the pressure moments the best, who is going to embrace the tough moments and who is going to compete better,” he said.
He added that Zimbabwe as the home team have a lot of pride and has shown that they can bounce back strongly in the series, hence his caution against complacency.
De Bruyn said his team had set themselves a target that he felt they had not achieved especially looking to the first match which the Eagles could have easily won, but lost due to poor decisions at crucial times.
“Our goal was to win more than three goals. We have to correct a few things on Tuesday to make our supporters proud. Umpiring has not been up to standard because a few things have not gone our way,” he said.
The national coach paid tribute to the players, saying they have set their standard and mindset as full members of the International Cricket Council, not associate members (which Namibia is).
Meanwhile, captain Gerhard Erasmus says the series is nicely poised for the clash on Tuesday, saying these are the kind of games that players would like to get involved in.
“We have to put a perfect performance together and that does not always happen and the results are not always in your control. We need to play the best cricket that we can because we are two sides that are evenly matched,” he said.
Erasmus added that the team that plays the best moments well is likely to win the match and the series.
Zimbabwe and Namibia are currently tied at two-all in their Twenty-Twenty (T-20 series) five-match series which concludes in Bulawayo on Tuesday.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
